President Donald Trump on Aug. 20 urged the Senate to pass an act stopping the flow of synthetic drugs such as fentanyl from being carried into the United States.
Trump accused China of shipping the deadly substance into the United States through the postal system and called for politicians to act hastily.
“It is outrageous that Poisonous Synthetic Heroin Fentanyl comes pouring into the U.S. Postal System from China,” he wrote in a Twitter post.
Fentanyl is an opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2016, about 19,400 people died from overdoses involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes fentanyl.
“We can, and must, END THIS NOW! The Senate should pass the STOP ACT – and firmly STOP this poison from killing our children and destroying our country. No more delay!” Trump continued in the post.
In June, the STOP act bill passed the House successfully among a barrage of comprehensive bills to combat the opioid crisis. But the Senate has yet to act on the bill.
The president’s comments come amid talk that the administration will soon release a highly anticipated report on reforming the U.S. postal service.
The STOP act legislation, first introduced in September 2016 by U.S. Senators Rob Portman (R-Ohio), Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and Kelly Ayotte, strengthens postal rules and would require mail shipped through foreign postal services to send the same electronic advance data as private carriers such as UPS or FedEx.
The act also highlighted that most of the drugs are being sent from places like China and India, often via mail.
The data would enable U.S. Customs and Border Protection to “better target potential illegal packages and keep these dangerous drugs from ending up in the hands of drug traffickers who want to harm our local communities.”
The legislation also mentioned another drug called carfentanil—the same class of drug as fentanyl 100 times more potent. Carfentanil has been used as a sedative for large animals and is banned from the battlefield under the Chemical Weapons Convention.
From The Epoch Times