One of Beijing's top drug officials has rejected allegations by US President Donald Trump that China is to blame for the majority of the supply of the lethal drug fentanyl to the United States. Meanwhile, fentanyl-related deaths in the US have risen further," he said Tuesday. "These two points clearly show that President Trump's tweets about fentanyl in the US mainly coming from China are not true at all." In April, the Chinese government announced it would add the entire class of fentanyl-related substances to their list of controlled drugs from May 1, a win for Trump and his administration. But in August, Trump appeared to lose patience with the speed of the crackdown. "I am ordering all carriers ... to search for and refuse all deliveries of fentanyl from China," the US leader tweeted on August 23. "Fentanyl kills 100,000 Americans a year. President Xi said this would stop -- it didn't!" On August 24, the US Office of National Drug Control Policy tweeted that China "continues to pour poison into our communities." The issue has become part of the ongoing trade war between the two countries, with Trump using Xi's alleged failure to follow through on his promise as one reason to impose further tariffs on China. Drug enforcement chief Liu said that the Trump administration shouldn't bring the fentanyl discussion into trade talks, adding both sides were still cooperating to stop drug smuggling.
I believe all kinds of drugs have become such a widespread problem in America. This is due to the excessive use of whatever drug citizens are abusing. While America and China are trying to find solutions the slow solution making is causing controversy between Trump and China which is only making communications worse. The abuse of drugs has led to the destruction of too many lives including many of our own loved ones. I wish there was an easy solution to solve all these drug enhanced fatalities. The reason it’s so tough to help or have drug users quit is because it is way easier to start, than it is to quit.
Questions:
- What is your opinion on the current drug laws and how can we do a better job to remove drugs that are involved in citizens lives? How do we solve this abusive drug enhancive fatality problem besides obviously just try our best to take them away?
- How do these fentanyl cases affect Trump’s/ China’s relationship and communications? How do we can we better notify Americans of the dangerous results of drug using from drugs that aren’t prescribed and most likely made in other countries like China?
Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in the nation, and it isn't even a typical "street drug"! How can this be? Other than the fact that two milligrams (a speck on your fingertip) of the opioid is enough to kill most people, I think the reason is twofold: big pharma downplaying the hazards of opioids for profit, and illegal fentanyl imports, especially from China. Fentanyl should only be used as relief for patients with severe, debilitating pain, usually advanced cancer patients. This clearly isn't the case. China hasn't done nearly enough to regulate its fentanyl exports (what is their incentive?) that frequently end up in "street drugs" like cocaine, and the U.S. hasn't done enough on this front either. However, there is hope—the bipartisan Fentanyl Sanctions Act, a bill aiming to crack down on fentanyl traffickers, passed the Senate 86-8 in June. On the other hand, big pharma companies are also to blame for thousands of fentanyl deaths and the opioid crisis in general. For example, Johnson & Johnson downplayed the hazards of opioids in their widely-sold pharmaceutical products. Insys even bribed doctors to illegally prescribe one of their drugs containing fentanyl. What motivates these companies to commit such inhumane crimes? Money. We have to do something about this.
ReplyDeleteSources:
https://www.dea.gov/galleries/drug-images/fentanyl
https://www.cotton.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1166
https://youtu.be/vkhMfgOT9Xs
I agree the problem is the greed and insane amount of money involved that's intriguing people to give and sell fentanyl just because the pay day is ridiculous
DeleteI recently watched a Patriot Act episode on this and one main point the show brought up that I think is really astounding is that it's insanely easy to buy fentanyl illegally online. Suppliers in China respond almost instantaneously to emails for fentanyl through the darknet, which is in itself a big problem. While this probably isn't the way drug cartels get their fentanyl nor the way addicts get it, I think it at least goes to show how unregulated fentanyl is both on China's end and on the US's. Another scary fact is that this flaw has proven to be far from special to fentanyl. Fentanyl has been dubbed the Third Wave of the opioid epidemic, a name which already indicates that there have already been two waves. Upon closer inspection, neither of those waves were stopped because of strong regulation, but rather that newer, better drugs were engineered and the old ones lost precedence. Something else that's scary in terms of opioid overdosing is that recently a new drug, Dsuvia, which is 10 times stronger than fentanyl and 1000 times stronger than morphine was approved by the FDA. Could the Fourth Wave of the opioid crisis be coming? Regardless, I don't think the solution is to yell at China over trade deals. Perhaps a better use of time would be to crack down on actual suppliers through the internet, or somehow getting China to actually enforce regulations. On the US side, tightening prescriptions is probably the most important and effective thing to do at this point.
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt that fentanyl is one of the deadliest, most potent drugs in circulation right now. Beyond the issues Grace stated about buying fentanyl online, a lot of dealers have been cutting other drugs such as cocaine and heroin with fentanyl, often unbeknownst to the drug user. This allows a supply of the drug to last longer, yet the mixture is deadly. If this continues, overdose rates will continue to exponentially increase, especially among first time drug users who are unaware of the chemical composition of the drug they are taking. The bickering between Trump and China will do nothing to stop this crisis, and only worsen the relationship between China and the US. I think schools/universities need to do a better job of addressing fentanyl/opioid use, emphasizing the often unknown and dangerous chemical composition. China also needs to play their part by following through on their regulations, which could be done if their other alliances threatened them to do so.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that drugs in the U.S. is an issue that needs to be solved and Trump recognizing this issue is a start. Trump’s order to search for and refuse the entry of fentanyl into the U.S. is practical and increasing tariffs would help push China to follow through on their agreement. U.S. could have taken a more cooperative approach that would have minimized the tension between the two countries, but this approach may help state more clearly that this is not something the U.S. plans on taking lightly. However, on that same note Trump should not be blaming China for being the cause. Drugs have been in American culture for many years and we produce a large portion of the drugs consumed by our citizens. Instead our government should start by targeting the industries that are within the U.S.. This could help to show other countries like China that we are serious about solving this issue. Consumers need to be further educated about the harmful sometimes lethal outcomes of such products. Stories need to be shared to raise awareness.
ReplyDeleteFentanyl is clearly a major issue for the USA at large, especially in more rural communities. It kills thousands of people every year. However, China obviously does not want this to happen as it puts them in quite a negative light. Therefore sending out tweets blaming China for this crisis is not going to solve the issue. Instead, it is simply going to fan the flames of the trade war as it feeds into China’s narrative that the USA does not wish them well. Instead, we should work collaboratively with China in order to fix this issue. Additionally, we should regulate pharmaceutical companies and doctors more in order to prevent them from overprescribing these drugs. This is necessary to stop people from becoming addicted in the future.
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