Fentanyl

As I’m sure you have all heard, Fentanyl is a growing problem in this country. Many of the recent opioid deaths are a direct result of Fentanyl – either from its direct use, or from other drugs being cut with it.

And, as it turns out, 99.9% of Fentanyl comes to us directly from China (the PRC). It is produced there – along with a plethora of designer narcotics – and sold illegally on line.

The US government has been looking into this illegal trade (see 60 Minutes broadcast of 28 April 2019), and has been taking steps to shut down the websites. But, as we all know, new websites can be created faster than the current ones can be found and dismantled, and this trade is going to continue.

As it is, the two main culprits are the government of China and the US Postal Service. As outlined in the 60 Minutes article, the US Postal Service, like all international shipping services, is supposed to get shipping manifests on all packages coming into the US from China, and is supposed to verify them. It has not been doing this. Yes, it is expensive, but it is less expensive than the loss of life caused by the use of Fentanyl. We now need to insist that the US Postal Service engage in this simple but necessary screening. it is one of the first lines of defense we have against the illegal importation of Fentanyl into this country. It is time to write to our elected representatives in Congress to insist on oversight over the US Postal Service so that they engage in this important screening activity.

The other, and more important, culprit is China. This drug is manufactured there, and sold there and shipped from there, and the government there needs to put a stop to it. For whatever reason – and I have a couple of theories about this – they have not seen fit to investigate and stop those responsible.

As the PRC is generally not responsive to citizens of the US – at least individual citizens of the US – it is now time to tell them exactly how we feel about having our sons and daughters and parents and siblings murdered by them through the use of this drug, and the best way to do that is with our wallets. If we stop buying Chinese and Chinese-made products in protest of the ongoing production and sale of Fentanyl, I think we might make an impression.

You know, the government may issue tariffs here and there, but that only makes Chinese goods more expensive here. Our government still permits Chinese goods to be imported here. But if We, The People, stop purchasing Chinese products – including Chinese-made products (meaning products manufactured for American companies) – I think the Chinese government may start feeling the pinch far more rapidly than any tariff. We, The People, as individual purchasers, have far more clout, both in numbers and dollars, than any tariff, and we CAN make a difference.

I therefore urge each of you readers to do the following:

Pass on this BLOG address to all of your family, friends and acquaintances;
Contact your elected representatives – Congress persons and Senators – and tell them to jump on the US Postal Service to make sure they screen the manifests of all products ordered from China and shipped to the US through their service, and to let the Chinese government know that we are going to protest the manufacture and sale of Fentanyl. Postcards will do, but let’s make sure to flood their offices with our opinions;
Start reading the labels on your potential purchases. If it says “Made in China” on it, pass it by and get the equivalent product that is made elsewhere.

Believe it or not, the purchasing power of American consumers is more than sufficient to bring the Chinese to their knees and put a stop to this Fentanyl epidemic. And we don’t even need the government to do this for us. We, The People, can act on our own to make a difference.