Fentanyl is an opioid, like morphine, but 50 to 100 times more potent.
The city of Riverside California has seized enough so far this year to overdose and kill the population of the United States. Let that sink in, everyone in this country. The kids in Denver call them blues, they also are sold as M30 pills and Fentanyl is added to many other drugs to enhance addictiveness. Do we have a new addition to the opioid problem in America? YES.. Is it killing upward of 100,00 Americans a year? YES.
So, what is being done about it Internationally?
The Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury have used the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act to sanction the a synthetic opioid trafficking entity. Following a commitment to the U.S. at the G-20 in December, Chinese regulators announced on April 1, 2018 that a wider range of fentanyl derivatives would be declared controlled substances in China by May 1, 2019. This change is a major step in the right direction. However, China already has problems enforcing its current drug laws and continues to deny that its illicit fentanyl producers are a major source of illicit opioids in the U.S. Strict implementation and enforcement will be key, as China has a long history of failing to live up to agreements with U.S. The route illegal Fentanyl takes into the US is from China to Mexican ports run by the cartels then up into the US via their normal routes often in shipments including meth. In July, the Mexican army and national guard seized some 1,196 pounds of fentanyl from a warehouse in Culiacán, where the Sinaloa drug cartel operates, authorities said.
In the US law enforcement is making record busts.
Approximately one million pills laced with fentanyl were seized in a bust near Los Angeles earlier in July, according to federal authorities. It marks the biggest seizure of fentanyl pills in California history, authorities said. The Drug Enforcement Administration reported Thursday that the raid occurred on July 5 at a home in Inglewood, a city just south of Los Angeles. The pills have an estimated street value of between $15 and $20 million, officials said. The pills were "intended for retail distribution," the DEA said.
A record-setting drug bust has led to more than a dozen arrests in Lake County Florida, and deputies say there could be more to come. The undercover operation led to the recovery of more than four pounds of fentanyl, 22 pounds of methamphetamine,2 pounds of cocaine and 13 firearms. “That amount of fentanyl could literally kill thousands,” Lake County Sheriff Peyton Grinnell said during a press conference Thursday announcing the results of “Operation Sneak-A-Peak.” It was a joint investigation between undercover agents from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, surrounding local agencies, Homeland Security, the DEA, and the FBI.
So, what can we do.
Number 1 - Educate our children and the people we care for about the problem and how Fentanyl is now added to many other drugs.
While I am not advocating there is any safe use of controlled narcotics, my Number 2 is if you suspect someone you care for is trying drugs or a user see if Opioid/Fentanyl test kits are available.