The Biden administration in the US is witnessing "unwillingness" from Mexico in terms of allocating sufficient resources to combat the influx of illegal drug Fentanyl into the United States. In response, a U.S. official conveyed on Thursday that they are urging Mexican authorities to intensify their efforts.
During his testimony before a Senate subcommittee, Todd Robinson, the Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, emphasized that the United States remains actively engaged with the Mexican government in persuading them to increase their resource commitment to combat the illicit trafficking of this lethal opioid.
The Biden administration has been actively pursuing greater collaboration with Mexico and China to address the surge in U.S. overdose fatalities driven by the proliferation of fentanyl and its precursor chemicals.
So what is Fentanyl?
Fentanyl is commonly believed to possess a potency around 50 times greater than that of heroin. In some cases, analogs such as carfentanil can surpass even this, exhibiting thousands of times the potency of heroin.
There exist two distinct categories of fentanyl: pharmaceutical fentanyl and illicitly manufactured fentanyl. Both fall under the classification of synthetic opioids. Pharmaceutical fentanyl is medically prescribed by physicians to manage intense pain, particularly following surgical procedures or in the case of advanced-stage cancer.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were approximately 107,477 fatalities related to drug use between August 2021 and August 2022. The primary culprit behind these tragic incidents was identified as the potent synthetic opioid known as fentanyl. These preliminary statistics show a slight decrease of 2.57% compared to the preceding year. This decline is noteworthy because it goes against the prevailing trend of the past two decades, during which opioids have consistently been the leading cause of overdose-related deaths.
However, the majority of recent incidents involving fentanyl-related overdoses can be traced back to illicitly manufactured fentanyl. This synthetic opioid is illicitly distributed within underground drug networks due to its heroin-like properties. Frequently, it gets mixed with other substances due to its unparalleled potency, resulting in cost savings, increased potency, heightened addictive potential, and elevated risks.
In the world of opioids, the "addictive" qualities are intricately linked with the risk of overdose from a pharmacological standpoint. This implies that as the intensity of substance-induced euphoria and anxiolytic effects increases, so does the potential for greater respiratory depression, which is the primary mechanism leading to fatal opioid overdoses.
