Bi-partisan bill aims to crack down on China’s fentanyl producers | State News

U.S. Senators Gary Peters (D-Michigan) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) are co-sponsoring bipartisan legislation to crack down on Chinese producers of fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.

The Fentanyl Sanctions Act would pressure the Chinese government to boost regulatory enforcement on pharmaceutical companies that create and distribute the drug, known to be responsible for thousands of overdose deaths throughout the U.S.

Michigan and West Virginia have been hit particularly hard by the opioid crisis. Michigan has an overdose death rate approximately 50 percent higher than the national average, while West Virginia’s is approximately 250 percent higher

According to the National Institute of Health, fentanyl is similar to morphine but 50 to 100 times more potent.

The NIH also reports overdose deaths attributable to synthetic opioids like fentanyl rose 1800 percent in Michigan from 2012 to 2017. In West Virginia, there was a 400 percent increase in overdose deaths linked to the substances from 2014 to 2018.

“The opioid epidemic is one of the most serious public health crises this country has ever faced, and the pervasive spread of synthetic opioids has only magnified its devastating toll on our communities and families,” Peters stated in a news release. “Fentanyl is the deadliest drug in America, and it is driving a national emergency that has claimed thousands of lives in Michigan and every corner of our country. For too long, the Chinese government has looked the other way as manufacturers and traffickers have flooded our streets with deadly illicit drugs. This bipartisan legislation will provide the federal government with a much-needed tool to combat the opioid epidemic and hold fentanyl producers and distributors accountable for their role in this devastating crisis.”

Added Capito: “West Virginia has been devastated by the opioid crisis, and fentanyl plays a lethal role in far too many West Virginia communities. As we work to enhance enforcement and interdiction protocols on the ground locally, we must also look to the origins of these drugs and those who manufacture and distribute them with little accountability. As chairman of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee, I refuse to turn a blind eye to the Chinese traffickers who profit from American deaths. I’m proud to join my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to put increased pressure on the Chinese government and to hold them to their promise to crack down on fentanyl manufacturers.”

Some officials estimate that China is responsible for roughly 90% of the illicit fentanyl in the world. One kilogram contains as many as 500,000 lethal doses.

Overdose deaths from heroin, methadone and other semi-synthetic opioids have decreased in recent years, while deaths from fentanyl abuse are steadily rising. Inadequate regulation of synthetic opioid production and exportation in China has been identified as a key contributor to the flood of opioids entering the U.S., according to the news release.

Earlier this year, Chinese regulators announced that a broad array of fentanyl products would be declared controlled substances — exposing them to increased regulation. But that has not yet happened, and more needs to be done to prevent fentanyl trafficking into the U.S., the news release states.

The Fentanyl Sanctions Act would call for sanctions on Chinese drug manufacturers and traffickers, as well as financial institutions that assist them, pressuring China to pursue legitimate enforcement of those regulations.

The bill also authorizes $600 million in new funding for law enforcement and intelligence agencies to combat foreign trafficking of synthetic opioids.

ALSO SEE:

Jury deliberating case against Pontiac woman who shot boyfriend 11 times

Police: Video captures image of man who used a stolen credit card

Pontiac man sentenced for hit-and-run that severely injured young boy

Prison sentence for Pontiac man charged with causing his unborn baby’s death