Dr. Robert Marbut on Fentanyl, Homelessness, and the Need for Change

The Annie Frey Show Podcast

Dr. Robert Marbut, fentanyl expert and former White House homelessness czar, discusses the complex issues of homelessness and substance abuse in St. Louis. He explains that untreated mental illness and self-medicating drug use, especially fentanyl, are key factors driving homelessness, rather than recreational drug use. Marbut criticizes federal policies since 2012 that removed requirements for clean shelters, undermining effective treatment and recovery programs. He warns that more Americans have died from fentanyl in the last five years than all U.S. service members in the past 100 years. Marbut calls for better access to treatment and tougher drug regulations, opposing government-sanctioned safe consumption sites.