US applauds move to control killer narcotic

A top US drug enforcement official has praised China’s ban on the opioid carfentanil, an elephant tranquilizer 10,000 times more potent than morphine, and three related synthetic opioids.

The Ministry of Public Security said on Thursday that carfentanil — along with furanyl fentanyl, acryl fentanyl and valeryl fentanyl — will be added to its list of controlled substances from March 1.

Fentanyl is used legitimately in hospitals as an anesthetic or for long-term pain management, such as in the form of prescription patches for late-stage cancer patients, according to Hua Zhendong, deputy director of the ministry’s drug testing laboratory.

However, the opioid drew wide public attention after the US musician Prince died in April of an accidental overdose of fentanyl.

China has been an important source country for carfentanil because the opioid was not a controlled substance, meaning it could be manufactured and sold legally. Online retailers have sold it to customers in the United States, where drug dealers add fentanyl to heroin and other narcotics to boost profits.

Opioid abuse has become a major problem in the US. In 2015, drug overdoses accounted for 52,404 deaths, with 33,091 involving opioids, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

China’s action “will have a practical and real positive impact in saving American lives”, said Russell Baer, an agent with the US Drug Enforcement Agency.

The move demonstrates China’s commitment to help the US in combating its problems with opioid addiction, he said, adding that US citizens use 25 percent of the world’s drugs and the majority of the world’s supply of opioids.

Yu Haibin, director of China’s Office of the National Narcotics Control Committee, told The Associated Press that the ban shows his nation’s “attitude as a responsible big country”.

Baer said the carfentanil that has been seized in multiple US states is believed to be arriving from foreign sources via illicit networks and purchases on the dark web.

“The presence of carfentanil in illicit US drug markets is cause for concern, as the relative strength of this drug has led to an increase in overdoses and overdose-related deaths, even among longtime heroin users,” he said.

“Synthetics or new psychoactive substances are the No 1 long-term drug threat.”