US turns to Trump targets – UN, China and Mexico – for help in opioid crisis
Washington has requested UN help declare fentanyl illegal in US and China, as White House works with Mexico to address the drug’s spread, official says
The Guardian (UK)
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Sunday, January 7, 2018
The president declared the opioid crisis a public health emergency, with most recent government estimates suggesting the more than 64,000 fatal overdoses in 2016 outnumber the total number of American deaths in the Vietnam War. Richard Baum, acting director of the White House’s Office of National Drug Control Policy, said that the US had requested the UN help declare fentanyl – an opioid at the heart of the crisis in the US – illegal in both the US and China. The US claims fentanyl manufactured in China – available for purchase online or imported into the US via established trafficking routes – contributes to the epidemic currently facing the country. (See also: China disputes Trump’s claim of flood of Chinese fentanyl into US)
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