What U.s.-china trade war could mean for the opioid epidemic
Trade tensions with China could have a spillover effect on the U.S. opioid crisis.
other areas” beyond trade, said Jeffrey Higgins, a former Drug Enforcement Administration supervisory special agent. “China could say ‘We are no longer going to cooperate with the United States on controlling these synthetic opioids,’” he continued.
Fentanyl, one of the deadliest synthetic opioids, is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and can be 100 times more potent than morphine. Of the 64,000 drug overdose deaths in 2016, more than 20,000 were related to some form of fentanyl, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report shows.
U.S. law enforcement and drug investigators consider China the primary source of this illicit drug and responsible for as
much as 90 percent of the world’s supply.
One reason: Until recently, “illicit fentanyl (was) not widely used in China, (so) authorities (placed) little emphasis on controlling its production and export,” a U.s.-china Economic and Security Review Commission staff research report notes.
In a March statement before Congress, Robert Patterson, the acting administrator of the DEA, described the relationship between U.S. and Chinese drug enforcement agencies as “a significant bilateral mechanism to address the threat resulting from the shipment of illicit fentanyls, their precursors, and other synthetic drugs to the United States and elsewhere.”
Thai authorities said earlier today that they would begin an hours-long process of extracting a group of boys and their soccer coach more than two weeks after the group became trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand.
The boys and the coach will dive out of the cave one at a time, each accompanied by a member of a team of international and Thai divers, officials said.
Divers were assigned at 10 a.m. local time, and the rescue will start as soon as possible, officials said. They expect the first rescue to be completed by 9 p.m. today.
“Today is the D-day for the rescuers,” said Narongsak Osottanakorn, the outgoing governor of Chiang Rai province. “We cannot wait any longer.”
Water levels have dropped significantly in the cave, so the boys will be able to walk out for part of the way before they have to make a treacherous dive in dark and muddy waters out of the narrow cave passageways, officials said. They will be accompanied by an “all-star” team of 13 international and five Thai divers, officials said. A diver will be assigned to each of the boys and their 25-year-old coach, Ekapol Chanthawong.
“The kids are so strong, physically and mentally,” Narongsak said. Officials have said that conditions are as perfect as they can be for the rescue attempt, factoring in the weather and water and oxygen levels in the cave, as well as the boys’ health.
The young soccer team and their coach have been trapped in the vast cave system since June 23, when monsoon rains flooded the cave while they were exploring inside. The group was found alive in a small cave chamber on Monday after nine days, mounting an international rescue effort with experts weighing in from all over the world.