Washington has to look within to put an end to fentanyl crisis

The first meeting of the China-US Counternarcotics Working Group was held on Tuesday. For years, anti-drug cooperation has become a point of contention in Sino-US relations, which is closely related to the uncontrolled proliferation of fentanyl-like substances in the United States. On the day of the meeting, officials in Oregon announced that due to the rampant spread of fentanyl, a state of emergency had been declared in the downtown area of Portland. According to data recently released by the US Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is a leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45.

The widespread prevalence of fentanyl in the US has various reasons. On the one hand, driven by financial interests, the crisis can be traced back to the overprescription of opioid painkillers in the 1990s and early 2000s. Pharmaceutical companies lobbied politicians for policy protection, pharmaceutical representatives encouraged doctors to prescribe more such drugs, while pharmacies vigorously sold them, forming a complete chain of interests. This led to widespread opioid dependency and addiction, laying the groundwork for the crisis. On the other hand, the intensification of political polarization in the US in recent years has delayed legislation on combating trafficking of the potent synthetic opioid that is relatively easy and inexpensive to produce and its availability has increased exponentially in recent years, contributing to its widespread use.

The root cause of the fentanyl abuse crisis in the US lies in the country's failure of governance. Yet US policymakers, being unwilling to address that issue, habitually resort to shifting the blame and responsibility for the crisis onto others. Previous US administrations launched lawsuits and sanctions against some Chinese companies and individuals, while in the past few years the US government has adopted "the US is sick but let China take the medicine" approach, placing Chinese companies and individuals on its entity list.

China, historically afflicted by the harm of drugs, has maintained a "zero tolerance" policy, rigorously cracking down on drug production, trafficking and various drug-related crimes. In May 2019, China became the first country globally to comprehensively control and regulate fentanyl-like substances, categorizing 25 different varieties, surpassing the 21 specified by the United Nations. According to US government sources, there have been no seizures of fentanyl-like substances from China since September 2019.

Sino-US antidrug cooperation can only help the US create external conditions to address related issues. But to truly end its fentanyl crisis, the US needs a multifaceted response including stricter regulation, harm reduction strategies, expanded access to addiction treatment, and efforts to address the social and economic factors that contribute to substance abuse.