(LibertySociety.com) – Synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are wreaking havoc in the United States, prompting lawmakers to push the Biden administration to take action to address the crisis. The White House announced on April 11th, 2023, that a new international governmental effort will be brought forth to disrupt the fentanyl supply chain.
Stopping the manufacture of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids will be a focus of the initiative, as well as working with the private sector locally and internationally to target drug traffickers. Drug interdiction of synthetic opioids and materials used to produce them will also be part of the effort, as many of these substances are shipped through consignment carriers. The global partnership will seek an increase in cooperation with these carriers to intercept more shipments, preventing the drug from ever reaching its destination.
In addition, the Biden administration says that they will utilize sanctions against people who trafficked the drugs specifically placing pressure on private chemical industries on a global level, while also educating companies about the types of equipment and chemicals that are used to make drugs like fentanyl. The Biden administration stated, according to ABC News, that “the nature of these drugs, and their ease of access and potency” pose major threats to the US and people’s safety.
United States Attorney General Merrick Garland said that the Mexican Sinaloa and Jalisco Cartels have intentionally created the fentanyl epidemic during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on March 1st, 2023. However, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador blames the United States for its drug consumption problem. Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., would like for these cartels to be designated as terrorist organizations, and has floated the idea of using the United States military to destroy manufacturing facilities, which was deemed an offensive suggestion by President Obrador.
Some advocates and families who have lost loved ones have suggested labeling the deaths as poisonings since often-times people think they are taking other drugs, such as Percocet, when they are actually taking a lethal dose of fentanyl.
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