The other export from Wuhan

[George K]

Fentanyl

Fentanyl, a form of synthetic opioid, has quickly become America’s most dangerous drug. In 2018, fentanyl killed 31,897 people in the United States—more than twice the number of any other narcotic. The chemical compound is so lethal, in fact, that just two milligrams—enough to cover Lincoln’s beard on a penny—can prove fatal. In the past five years, fentanyl has devastated hundreds of American communities, particularly in the Northeast and Midwest, where overdose death rates have skyrocketed.

“Most of the fentanyl and novel synthetic opioids in U.S. street markets—as well as their precursor chemicals—originate in China, where the regulatory system does not effectively police the country’s expansive pharmaceutical and chemical industries,” a recent RAND analysis concludes. Chinese manufacturers export the drug in two ways. First, they send shipments directly to American criminal organizations via the U.S. Postal Service, UPS, and FedEx, using the “dark web” to process orders. Second, they ship fentanyl and precursor chemicals to drug cartels in Mexico, which then smuggle the final product into American markets.

Over the past decade, Wuhan has emerged as the global headquarters for fentanyl production. The city’s chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturers hide production of the drug within their larger, licit manufacturing operations, then ship it abroad using deliberately mislabeled packaging, concealment techniques, and a complex network of forwarding addresses. According to a recent ABC News report, “huge amounts of these mail-order [fentanyl] components can be traced to a single, state-subsidized company in Wuhan...”

Evidence suggests that China is at best negligent and at worst intentional in these two situations. Beijing ignored repeated warnings about safety concerns at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, then covered up what some observers, including Pompeo and President Donald Trump, suspect was an accidental release of the virus into the human population. As for drug exports, Chinese leadership has consistently failed to regulate the illicit fentanyl market, refused to crack down on producers, and interfered with FDA inspectors hoping to investigate pharmaceutical production.

By way of perspective, I used to inject two milligrams of fentanyl to induce anesthesia for open-heart surgery. The patient would stop breathing in about 30 seconds.

[Jolly]

Actually, the other product I think of coming from Wigan is...

Link to video

[Doctor Phibes]

@Jolly said in The other export from Wuhan:

coming from Wigan

That's got to be the auto-correct of the week