In a significant move towards curtailing the production and export of precursor chemicals used in illicit drug manufacturing, China recently agreed to intensify its crackdown on such companies. This decision, mainly targeting the synthetic opioid fentanyl, comes at a critical time when drug-related fatalities are on the rise.
The finalization of this agreement is set to occur during the forthcoming meeting between China’s President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Joe Biden, scheduled on the sidelines of Wednesday’s summit in San Francisco.
The potential fentanyl agreement was initially brought to light by Bloomberg.com. This meeting between the two presidents is anticipated to last four hours, preceding the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Apart from narcotics control, the discussion agenda includes a host of pressing matters ranging from the ongoing Taiwan tensions to Beijing’s concerns about U.S. export controls to curb its military expansion, per the Financial Times.
Fentanyl, a drug reported to be 50 times more potent than heroin, has been linked to a staggering number of deaths in the U.S. Hence, striking a deal with China to limit its production represents a significant win for the Biden administration, which is striving to contain the drug’s rampant spread.
In reciprocity for China’s commitment to control fentanyl production, the U.S. is reportedly planning to ease restrictions on China’s Forensic Police Institute. The Biden administration had previously accused this institute of human rights violations.
Wednesday’s summit will mark the second occasion when the two leaders cross paths as they jointly attempt to bring stability in the U.S.-China relations. This meeting is a promising step towards fostering international cooperation in combating the global drug menace.
The specter of drug overdose fatalities continues to haunt our nation, with the figures showing a distressing rise from 2019 to 2021. In the year 2021 alone, an alarming count of over 106,000 lives were claimed by drug overdoses, painting a grim picture of the rampant substance abuse problem.
A significant portion of these tragic losses can be attributed to synthetic opioids, excluding methadone, with fentanyl as the primary culprit.
The year 2021 recorded an unsettling tally of 70,601 deaths resulting from overdoses of these substances. This data indicates an ominous upward trend in the misuse of these potent narcotics.
Furthermore, the misuse of stimulants, inclusive of cocaine and other psychostimulants prone to abuse, such as methamphetamine, has been on a worrying ascension. The data from 2021 alone bears testament to this, reflecting a startling figure of 32,537 overdose fatalities tied to these stimulants.
