America’s drug epidemic isn’t just a public health crisis—it’s a battle for the soul of our nation.

That was the sobering message from White House Office of National Drug Control Policy Director Sara Carter during this week’s Pray with America’s Leaders program, where she joined Kris Kubal, IFA Chief Program Officer, to discuss the devastating impact of illicit drugs, the Trump administration’s new National Drug Control Strategy, and the vital role faith must play in America’s recovery.

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Known to many Americans for her years as an investigative journalist covering national security, the border, and the Russia investigation, Carter explained that her current role as the nation’s “drug czar” is a natural extension of the work she has spent decades doing. Long before joining Fox News, she investigated gang violence, drug trafficking, and cartel activity along the U.S.-Mexico border, eventually covering terrorist organizations overseas that financed their operations through narcotics trafficking.

Those experiences convinced her that America’s drug crisis is far more than a law enforcement issue.

A War Without Bombs

Carter described today’s drug epidemic as a form of irregular warfare being waged against the United States.

Rather than defeating America through military force, hostile cartels and foreign adversaries—including those supplying precursor chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl—are flooding the nation with deadly narcotics that are tearing apart families and communities from within.

At the height of the crisis, more than 112,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in a single year.

“If a bomb dropped every year in the United States and 100,000 Americans were wiped off the face of the earth, we would be shocked,” Carter said. Yet because addiction often happens quietly, many Americans failed to recognize the scale of the tragedy until it touched their own families.

Today, she noted, the victims are no longer confined to impoverished neighborhoods. Children, teenagers, college students, and young adults across every socioeconomic background have died after taking counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl or experimenting with drugs they believed were something entirely different.

More Than a Border Problem

While securing America’s borders remains critical, Carter emphasized that stopping the flow of drugs is only one part of the solution.

The Office of National Drug Control Policy works across the federal government to reduce both the supply of illegal narcotics and the demand that fuels the market. That includes disrupting cartel operations, confronting foreign governments that enable fentanyl production, expanding recovery resources, and helping communities devastated by addiction.

She shared heartbreaking examples from communities where the opioid epidemic has left grandparents raising grandchildren, foster care systems overwhelmed, and young people entering adulthood without stable families or hope for the future.

Behind every overdose statistic, Carter reminded viewers, is a family forever changed.

A Different Kind of Drug Strategy

One of the most significant changes in the Trump administration’s newly released National Drug Control Strategy is its emphasis on faith-based recovery.

Rather than viewing addiction solely through the lens of policy and enforcement, the strategy recognizes that lasting healing often requires spiritual transformation alongside treatment and accountability.

Carter spoke openly about her own Christian faith, explaining that she could not carry the burdens of her office without relying on God. She also emphasized that the administration wants Americans seeking recovery to have access to programs that align with their faith, regardless of denomination.

The goal, she said, is to make recovery easier to obtain than the drugs destroying lives.

At the same time, the administration continues its aggressive campaign against drug cartels, working alongside federal agencies to dismantle trafficking organizations and reduce the flow of fentanyl and other deadly narcotics into the United States.

Hope for the Future

Despite the magnitude of the crisis, Carter expressed optimism.

She pointed to encouraging signs that overdose deaths are declining under President Trump’s administration, noting that annual deaths have dropped from more than 112,000 to fewer than 69,000. While every life lost remains a tragedy, she believes those numbers represent thousands of families spared from unimaginable grief.

Throughout the conversation, Carter repeatedly returned to one central theme: hope.

America’s drug epidemic did not develop overnight, and it will not disappear overnight. But with strong leadership, community involvement, law enforcement, treatment, and above all, faith in God, she believes the nation can overcome one of its greatest modern challenges.

This conversation reminds us that the battle against addiction is both physical and spiritual. We are called to pray for families devastated by drug abuse, for law enforcement confronting violent cartels, for government leaders crafting effective policy, and for those trapped in addiction to experience the healing, freedom, and redemption found only in Jesus Christ.

You can watch this webcast by clicking here, or in the embedded player below.

Share your prayers for those battling addiction in the comments below.

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