A Second Opinion: Fentanyl–A Deadly Drug from China/ Mary Foran

Fentanyl patch packages from several German generic drug manufacturers

by Mary Foran

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. Pharmaceutical fentanyl was developed for pain management treatment of cancer patients, applied on a patch on the skin.

Its potency means it is profitable for drug dealers as well as dangerous and deadly for those who use it, intentionally or unintentionally. Heroin is often mixed with fentanyl. This deception is proving fatal. Dead people don’t recover.

In at least 18 states in the US, agents have seized rainbow-colored fentanyl pills. Children may mistake them for candy and young people may find them more attractive because of their colors. Fentanyl can kill in small doses such as two milligrams.

U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announcing charges against Chinese nationals operating global Fentanyl conspiracy resulting in deaths of American people, 22 August 2018

Fentanyl shipments are surging across the US southern border at an astronomical rate, with July’s rate of seizures breaking previous records and tripling June’s rate, according to Homeland Security Department statistics.

Given the drug’s lethality, July’s seizures would be enough to slay nearly 470 million people and amount to nearly 1 and a half doses for every American.

Fentanyl began seeping into the illegal drug market a decade ago, chiefly supplied through the mail by China.

Per their announcement, China is stopping cooperation in blocking shipments of Fentanyl to the US to retaliate against Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan. (Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Ligan)

Congress moved to crack down on these shipments and President Trump issued a direct demand to China’s leadership in 2018 to stop them.

President Xi Jinping agreed to stop shipments to the US but not to Mexico.

Now the ingredients are shipped from China to Mexico where smuggling cartels process them into fentanyl and sneak the finished product across the border.

China this month announced it would stop cooperating on blocking shipments of fentanyl to the US as part of its retaliation over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit (2 August 2022)to Taiwan.

As migrants are being used as political pawns, being flown and bussed to northern cities to relieve the crush at the southern border, drug cartels are gleefully continuing their trade in deaths.

Remember, just one pill can kill.

———

Controversy Over Mandatory Minimum Sentencing for Fentanyl.webm
by NJTV News, CC  BY4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Sen. Cory Booker, the ACLU and others oppose a proposal to increase mandatory minimum sentencing for fentanyl, saying imposing a five-year jail term for two grams of the drug punishes addicts instead of distributors.
For full episodes, check out http://www.njtvnews.org/

Images (stills)
Featured image/Alcibiades, PD via Wikimedia Commons
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announcing charges/US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, PD via Wikimedia Commons
Zhao Ligan,/China News Service, CC BY3.0 via Wikipedia