On the evening of December 1, local time, the heads of state of China and the United States had an in-depth exchange of views on Sino-US relations and international issues of common concern and reached important consensus. In a statement issued by the White House office, calling it a "very successful meeting," it went on to say: "It is very important that China, in a noble humanitarian gesture, agrees to designate fentanyl as a controlled substance, which means that those who sell fentanyl to the United States will be subject to the maximum penalty under Chinese law." ”
According to Wikipedia, fentanyl is a potent opioid analgesic. First developed by Belgian physician Paul Janssen in 1960, fentanyl was approved for medical use in the United States in 1968 and, when used in combination with other drugs, is often used as a pain medication or anesthetic, both by oral and patches. It is characterized by rapid onset of action and a very short time of action, with an effect of 1 minute after intravenous injection, a peak of 4 minutes, and a maintenance effect of 30 minutes, and an effect of about 7 minutes after intramuscular injection for about 1 to 2 hours. As of 2012, fentanyl is the most widely used synthetic opioid in medicine and is still the irreplaceable medicine in anesthesia and pain treatment. Fentanyl is a powerful agonist of μ-opioid receptors in the brain, 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.
Later, fentanyl was used as an recreational drug and became an important ingredient in laboratory drugs. Because of its extreme potency, there have been countless cases of drug overdose deaths between 2000 and 2017.
The United States, the "hardest hit area" of drugs, is even more deeply affected. Huntington is located in the northwest corner of West Virginia, bordering Kentucky, and is known as the "opioid" crisis center. On 15 August 2016, 28 local people died from overdose of heroin containing fentanyl. One of the most well-known examples of fentanyl deaths is that on April 21, 2016, Prince Roger Nelson, a 57-year-old american singer, musician and record producer, was found dead at his home in Minnesota because of an accidental overdose of fentanyl. Fentanyl is increasingly becoming a street drug, often mixed with heroin or other drugs. The economic forces that stimulate drug production here are very powerful: it costs $5,000 to produce 1,000 grams of fentanyl, and this million fentanyl is sold for $200,000 each. Moreover, drug abuse is not discriminated against in this area. Huntington, West Virginia Mayor Steve Williams, said, "Our youngest drug addicts are only 12 years old and the oldest is 77 years old. "In 2015, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Kentucky, Ohio and other states had the highest rates of drug deaths in the United States, with a mortality rate of more than 28 per 100,000 people, including 41.5 in West Virginia.
According to the National Drug Enforcement Office, only 6 copies of fentanyl-like substances were found in total between 2012 and 2015, compared with 66 of the new psychoactive substances discovered in 2016. Therefore, from March 1, 2017, the Ministry of Public Security, the Health and Family Planning Commission, and the State Food and Drug Administration decided to list the four substances of carfentanil, furan fentanyl, acryloyl fentanyl, and valeryl fentanyl as non-medicinal narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.
Image source: Visual China