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Opinion
SCMP Editorial
SCMP Editorial

Editorial | Fentanyl fight also needs action in the US

  • China may have moved to further tighten curbs on the opioid painkiller that is linked to an epidemic of fatal overdoses in America, but Washington must introduce effective regulatory and educational measures

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A bag of heroin fentanyl pills. Photo: US DEA
SCMP Editorial
For trade in an addictive painkiller to be a national drug problem of epidemic proportions, it needs to get around the law. The modern scourge of deadly synthetic opioids is a case in point. When manufacturers and consumers are in separate countries it is easy for the respective authorities to point the finger of blame at the other for lax law enforcement. That does nothing to curb the illicit trade. For addicts, their families, health workers and society it is better if the authorities put such differences aside and focus on complementary efforts to close loopholes and step up pressure on suppliers and consumers.
Happily, amid the security surrounding the US-China trade talks, evidence has emerged of such a cooperative approach. In its most decisive response yet to US concerns, China has moved to further tighten curbs on the powerful opioid painkiller fentanyl, which is linked to an epidemic of fatal overdoses in the United States.

China has been progressively banning the manufacture and sale of types of the drug and precursors. But chemists, including some on the mainland, thwart such attempts to cut off or disrupt supplies by altering the chemical structure to create derivatives that get around them. The latest Chinese measures are designed to stop manufacturers doing that. A joint announcement of them by mainland public security, health and medical products authorities fulfilled a promise by President Xi Jinping to President Donald Trump at their meeting last December.

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However, Liu Yuejin, deputy director of China’s National Narcotics Control Commission, maintained there were no grounds for accusing China of being behind the US opioid crisis. Rather, he blamed a history of drug abuse and a lack of regulation or public education. Nonetheless, according to a source close to the research panel behind the new policy, it is a “systemic innovation” that sidesteps a comprehensive evaluation of particular types of drugs. Expansion of the ban to all fentanyl-related substances means new drugs created by tweaking fentanyl’s chemical structure are on the banned list as well. That said, experts are right to point out it is difficult to win the drugs war without effective regulatory and educational measures at the consumption end to stem demand.

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