Secretary of State Antony Blinken is used to dealing with problems on the world stage, but now he is turning his attention to the fentanyl crisis here at home.
“Every city, every state has been affected by the opioid crisis,” Blinken said.
Thursday Blinken traveled to Vienna for the annual meeting of the U.N. Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
He is calling on other countries to do more to stop the trafficking of fentanyl and other synthetic drugs.
“It’s an international problem, not just a domestic problem,” Blinken said.
Blinken says most of the fentanyl killing Americans is coming from China.
He says President Biden has been forceful in getting China to crack down on making the deadly drug.
“China has put out new regulations telling its companies that they can’t be involved in this trade. It has actually taken down companies that are,” Blinken said.
Many Congressional Republicans blame the Biden administration for the huge amounts of fentanyl coming into the U.S.
West Virginia Republican Shelley Moore Capito believes this is a campaign weakness for President Biden.
“People don’t think he’s done enough to stop the fentanyl trafficking. And they’re right. He has not,” Moore Capito said.
Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown says he has a bill that will help stop illegal drugs from coming into the country.
“It’s partly to send resources to the points of entry in the border to make sure that we can detect this stuff. We have equipment to do it,” said Brown.
The legislation would schedule this chemical and give law enforcement the tools they need to go after traffickers while protecting access for veterinarians, farmers, cattlemen, and ranchers who use xylazine to treat large animals. The bill is endorsed by 39 state attorneys general, major law enforcement organizations, and veterinary organizations.
“As drug traffickers come up with new, deadly tactics, like combining fentanyl with xylazine, we must work to keep our communities safe,” said Brown. “It’s why we introduced this bipartisan bill to crack down on xylazine use, restrict access to it, and give law enforcement the tools they need to fight it,” Brown said.