Fentanyl a topic at Blinken’s meeting with China president
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with China President Xi Jinping this week, and among the many topics discussed included fentanyl, according to the Associated Press.
An Associated Press report states Blinken also pressed leaders to curb the production and export of fentanyl precursors that are fueling the opioid crisis in the United States.
The DEA said in a 2020 report that China and Mexico are the primary sources of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.
In 2022, President Joe Biden signed into law the Fentanyl Results Act. The legislation authorizes programs through the State Department that would builds foreign law enforcement to detect synthetic drugs.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 109,690 people died from fentanyl overdoses in 2022.
According to previous reporting, a 2022 report from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services revealed Missouri had 1,878 fatal drug overdoses in 2020. It was a 19% increase from 2019 and the highest total in the state to date.
Opioid overdoses account for 70% of deaths of adults aged 18-44 in Missouri, the leading cause of death in the state. A study posted in December on the CDC website says teen drug overdose deaths have increased, with fentanyl deaths went up 182%.
A number of arrests involving large quantities of fentanyl have been made recently in the Mid-Missouri area. A Columbia teenager recently was recently pulled over and detained after driving a car that allegedly had more than 800 pills made of fentanyl. Two people were arrested in Miller County earlier this month after more than 1,000 pills containing fentanyl were found. Two Jefferson City men were allegedly found with more than 900 fentanyl pills.
