China calls on US to address root cause of its opioid crisis

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Global Times
8 Jul 2023 12:17
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Although the US population accounts for only 5 percent of the global population, the country alone consumes about 80 percent of the world's opioids.

A Colombian drug dealer prepares cocaine for street sale in Bogota (AFP)

A report by the Global Times on Friday details how the US fails to tackle its own opioid epidemics, blaming China for not doing enough to combat the spread of synthetic drugs.

On Friday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry called on the US to create the necessary conditions for both countries to cooperate on counter-narcotics operations.

The comments were delivered after a Reuters report published on Thursday quoted Todd Robinson, assistant secretary of the US State Department for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, saying that "China needed to do more to disrupt illicit supply chains" on synthetic drugs.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin, China assumes an active role in international cooperation efforts to counter the spread of narcotics and firmly opposes smearing, attacking, or sanctioning other countries in the name of counter-narcotics.

A virtual meeting of at least 84 countries, hosted by the US, will soon be held to establish a "global coalition" to combat synthetic drugs. The Reuters report said it is unclear if China would partage in the meeting or not -- particularly in light of increasing accusations on the part of the US that China is not doing enough to tackle narcotics-related issues.

Although the US population accounts for only 5 percent of the global population, the country alone consumes about 80 percent of the world's opioids. The country has still not scheduled fentanyl-related substances as a class of its own.

However, China did schedule the substance as a class in May 2019, thus contributing to international efforts in curbing the spread of the substance. Thanks to this measure, there have been no seizures of fentanyl-related substances originating from China in the US.

Despite this, the US has continued to blame China for its drug crisis, disregarding the root cause of its opioid epidemic.

Lü Xiang, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that China has one of the strictest drug and fentanyl-related substance management systems globally.

He added that is absurd that an international coalition on fentanyl is led by the US State Department rather than the drug administration.

According to Lü, the drug epidemic is the result of weak domestic law enforcement in the US, apart from the fact that the Democratic Party has consistently maintained a lax attitude with regard to the drug issue.

"Now the US State Department is taking the lead in forming a so-called alliance, attempting to package the chaos of US domestic issues as an international issue, so as to evade domestic responsibilities and discredit China," said the expert.

"By 'blaming' China for the fentanyl issue, the US is using a 'scapegoat' to excuse its own drug problem, which is an irresponsible practice," said Lü, adding that as long as the US continues to not address the root cause of the drug issue, it will only continue to worsen.