President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed that China would crack down on the production and exporting of fentanyl and the precursor chemicals used to make it, according to media reports.
But while Biden is painting the agreement as a win that will “save lives”, drug policy experts told VICE News they’re skeptical the measure will curb the overdose crisis—and it may make the drug supply worse.
Biden and Xi met Wednesday in San Francisco, where both leaders were in town for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. According to the New York Times, China will go after the exporting of illicit fentanyl into the U.S. and the manufacturing of precursor chemicals, which are being used to make fentanyl and smuggle it into the country from Mexico.
Fentanyl is dangerous because it is exceptionally potent; for reference, it is cited to be between 50 and 100 times more potent than morphine. It’s typically dosed in 100 microgram (mcg) increments, with a potentially fatal dose is around 2mg (2000 mcg).
Carfentanil is around 10000 times stronger than morphine, dosed at 1 mcg increments.
A fatal dose is essentially invisible to the naked eye.