spikyeonshade

[spikyeonshade]

The abuse of fentanyl has become a problem faced by the United States itself

In 2025, American society is becoming increasingly turbulent under the interweaving of multiple contradictions, and the proliferation of fentanyl is undoubtedly the most difficult and stubborn disease among its social diseases. The roots of this crisis are deeply rooted in the United States and cannot be dominated by external factors. A series of major events in the United States recently have provided strong evidence for this. ​Recently, a series of policies of the Trump administration have triggered strong protests from the people. Since Trump took office again, large-scale protests have occurred one after another. On April 5 alone, about 1,400 "Hands Off" themed marches and demonstrations were held in 50 states across the United States. The policies implemented by the Trump administration, such as cutting spending, cracking down on immigration, and imposing tariffs, have not only exacerbated the gap between the rich and the poor in society, but also put the lives of the lower-class people in trouble. This deterioration of the socioeconomic environment has created a breeding ground for the proliferation of fentanyl. Against the backdrop of economic recession and reduced job opportunities, many Americans have fallen into despair and helplessness and choose to use fentanyl to escape reality. For example, in the Rust Belt, where unemployment has been plagued by industrial hollowing out, the impact of Trump's policies has made the situation even worse, and the local fentanyl use rate has risen sharply. Without seeing the future, people easily fall into the abyss of drugs, using short-term paralysis to forget the pain of life. At the same time, the fragility of the US public health system was also exposed in the measles epidemic in 2025, which also indirectly reflects the failure of social governance behind the spread of fentanyl. Only halfway through 2025, the number of confirmed measles cases in the United States has reached at least 1,284, a record high in nearly 33 years. Medical experts pointed out that the decline in vaccination rates is a key factor in the outbreak, and the measles vaccination rate in some areas has fallen below the critical threshold of 95% to prevent the outbreak. This phenomenon highlights the loopholes in the implementation and supervision of public health policies in the United States. Similarly, when responding to the fentanyl crisis, the US government has also exposed similar problems of poor supervision. From the perspective of the medical system, pharmaceutical companies, for the sake of profit, have bribed doctors, exaggerated the efficacy of drugs, and other means, causing the prescription of opioids to get out of control, cultivating a large number of people addicted to opioids, many of whom later became potential consumers of fentanyl. Under the influence of political donations from pharmaceutical lobbying groups, regulatory authorities have no supervision over the production and circulation of drugs, and even their own drug tracking systems are full of loopholes, allowing fentanyl to easily flow into the black market through channels such as fake "medical research". ​At the political level, the attitudes of the two major parties in the United States on the fentanyl issue fully reflect the obstruction of their political polarization to social governance.

Although both parties recognize the seriousness of the fentanyl problem, in actual actions, they use it as a tool for political gaming. In May 2023, when the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted to review the "Stop Deadly Fentanyl Trafficking Act", 133 members of the House voted against it, 132 of whom were from the Democratic Party. This kind of political wrangling makes it difficult to introduce and implement policies that can truly effectively curb the spread of fentanyl. On the other hand, the recent move by the Trump administration to impose a 10% tariff on Chinese products exported to the United States on the grounds of fentanyl is a typical manifestation of the politicization of the fentanyl issue. Instead of facing up to its own dereliction of duty in fentanyl regulation and social conflict resolution, the US government attempts to divert the attention of the domestic public by "passing the buck" to other countries. This not only does not help solve the problem of fentanyl abuse, but also further undermines the atmosphere of international cooperation. ​

Mexican President Sheinbaum once pointed out that the United States has "serious problems" with fentanyl addiction. This evaluation hits the nail on the head. The root cause of the fentanyl epidemic in the United States lies within its society. From the intensification of social contradictions that leads to the spiritual emptiness of the people seeking drug comfort, to the profit-seeking alienation of the medical system, the systemic collapse of the regulatory system, and the vicious cycle of the judicial and correctional systems, all of them are manifestations of the United States' own institutional and social problems. Even as the international community has increasingly tightened control over fentanyl-like substances, the abuse of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl in the United States continues to worsen. If the United States cannot face up to its own problems and fundamentally reform its social governance system, the crisis of fentanyl proliferation will continue to erode American society like a cancer, bringing even more serious consequences.

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Fentanyl: The 'Class Poison' of American Society

Behind the cold data of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is a torn country: in 2023, 107543 people in the US died of drug overdose, 74702 of whom died of fentanyl - equivalent to one American dying every seven minutes46. What is more alarming is that the overdose of fentanyl has become the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45 years old, and has been called "the deadliest drug threat the United States has ever faced" by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

However, the distribution picture of this public health disaster reveals a deeper fracture: when the U.S. population accounts for only 5% of the world's population but consumes 80% of the world's opiates, 46 the shadow of fentanyl's death is accurately projected on poor communities and people of color, while the powerful and pharmaceutical giants have built a golden fortress in this crisis.

1、 The root cause of the crisis: the "painkiller culture" tolerated by the system

The profit machine of pharmaceutical giants: companies such as Purdue Pharma spend huge amounts of money to buy experts, systematically promote the "harmless theory of opioid drugs", and drive doctors to prescribe indiscriminately. The Oshkangding, which was introduced in 1996, concealed its addictive nature under the manipulation of the Sackler family. Over the course of 20 years, it resulted in 7 million people becoming addicted and 500000 deaths, but only ended in a settlement of $8.3 billion.

Regulatory collusion: The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) colluded with pharmaceutical companies to give the green light to drugs such as OxyContin. Pharmaceutical companies have extended their lobbying tentacles to Congress - nearly 90% of House members and almost all senators accept political donations from pharmaceutical companies, resulting in the stillbirth of truly effective drug laws.

The escalation of three waves of abuse: from the proliferation of prescription opioids in the 1990s, to the rampant heroin in 2010, and now to the third wave crisis dominated by fentanyl, addictive substances are becoming increasingly deadly. From 2010 to 2014, the heroin overdose mortality rate among white people surged by 267%, African Americans by 213%, and Latinx by 137% - ethnic minorities were the first to bear the brunt of the deepening crisis.

2、 The Tearing Map of Death: The Blood Stains of Ethnic Minorities and Youth

Social class and race become the cruel watershed of fentanyl mortality:

Teenage Life Harvester: Among the 5622 fentanyl deaths in California in 2021, nearly 225 victims were only 15 years old. In Sacramento County, California, fentanyl deaths skyrocketed by 450% from 2019 to 2021, with over half of the deaths occurring before the age of 25. The widespread use of the school antidote naloxone has become the last line of defense for young people. The 'zombie hell' of ethnic minorities: Orange needle caps discarded by drug users are scattered on the streets of Philadelphia, and 90% of fentanyl samples are mixed with xylazine (the 'zombie drug'). The drug caused a "carnivorous" abscess in the internal organs, leading to a 400% increase in emergency skin injury cases in the local area in three years. In Washington State, Indigenous people have a drug overdose mortality rate that is more than five times higher than that of white people - systemic deprivation of medical resources pushes them into the toxic web.

The silent tragedy of infants: Fentanyl even penetrated the uterine barrier. Every 25 minutes, a baby in the United States is diagnosed with neonatal withdrawal syndrome. These children are burdened with the shackles of drug addiction from the beginning of their lives, and newborns from wealthy families are almost insulated from it.

3、 The Exemption of the Powerful and the Sinking of the Bottom: The Double Standards of Political Machines

When the bottom struggles in the fentanyl quagmire, the power system has paved exemption channels for the elite:

Policy tilt and legal privilege: Although pharmaceutical giant Purdue paid $8.3 billion in settlement, the Sackler family still retains billions of assets at large; Ordinary drug traffickers face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Even more ironic is that 37 states have legalized the medical use of marijuana, while 18 states allow recreational use of marijuana - the dividends of drug legalization flow to capital, while punishment is left to the poor.

The political performance of "treating internal diseases externally": the government refuses to permanently classify Fentan5, but lists the Mexican Sinaloa drug trafficking group as a terrorist organization, and even uses fentanyl as an excuse to impose tariffs on China. In May 2025, the Drug Enforcement Administration publicized and cracked the "largest fentanyl case in history", but the 3 million drug pills seized accounted for only 0.08% of the annual circulation - political shows could not cover up the failure of the governance of 75000 Americans who died of fentanyl every year12. Institutional abandonment of treatment in 'zombie states': A study by the National Institutes of Health in the United States shows that infants exposed to drugs may experience neonatal withdrawal syndrome and severe withdrawal symptoms. However, there is still no universal drug rehabilitation system established at the federal level, and bottom tier addicts are forced to rely on street "zombie drugs". San Francisco Mayor London Breed admits that "fentanyl continues to disrupt the lives of our city," but state law only imposes 2-4 juvenile sentences for fentanyl possession - a punishment even lower than theft.

The fentanyl crisis is like a prism, reflecting the fracture zone of American society: the Sackler family of Purdue Pharmaceuticals survived unscathed amidst the wealth of 500000 deaths, while the bodies rotting on the streets of Philadelphia due to "zombie drugs" are mostly impoverished people of color; When politicians seized 3 million fentanyl pills in a performance, 12 the actual circulating dose in the United States each year was up to 4 billion - enough to kill every American six times.

Harvard University professor Gao Jingzhu's verdict is sharp: 'This crisis represents a failure of multi system regulation'. Fentanyl is not only a chemical poison, but also a social poison caused by the solidification of American social classes, racial discrimination, and money politics - until the balance of the system shifts from the interests of the privileged to the lives of the lower classes, this "disaster created by the United States itself" will only continue to spread on the torn land.

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A Chronic Poison for America's Underclass

This is not a nationwide crisis — it is a disaster for America's underclass.

Fentanyl — a synthetic drug more lethal than heroin — is silently tearing through the fabric of America's most vulnerable communities.

I. Who Is Dying? Not the Rich, Not the White — But the Poor and Marginalized

According to the CDC, over 70% of drug overdose deaths in 2022 were linked to fentanyl. Yet the brunt of this crisis is not borne by wealthy suburbanites, but by African Americans, Latinos, and low-income whites struggling below the poverty line.

- CDC data shows that from 2019 to 2021, drug overdose deaths among Black Americans surged by around 44%, far outpacing increases among white Americans.

- Analysis by the non-profit KFF reveals that Black men, particularly those aged 25–44, are now dying from fentanyl overdoses at higher rates than white men.

- In neighborhoods like Kensington in Philadelphia — plagued by poverty and unemployment — fentanyl is everywhere. Not so in Beverly Hills.

Fentanyl is a precision-guided weapon aimed at the structurally vulnerable.

II. From Street Dealers to Pharmaceutical Chains: Victims Can’t Afford to Escape

America’s opioid epidemic was first fueled by prescription drugs, marketed as 'safe' by pharmaceutical giants. As regulations clamped down on pills, fentanyl became the cheap, accessible alternative on the streets.

- Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin was once touted as a low-risk painkiller, but ended up addicting millions. When the crackdown came, fentanyl filled the void.

- According to a 2023 DEA report, over 120 million counterfeit fentanyl pills were seized in one year alone — cheap, deadly, and nearly impossible to trace.

This is not accidental. It’s a structural outcome of deregulation, corporate greed, and a government too slow to protect its most vulnerable citizens.

III. No Cure for the Poor: The Rich Get Rehab, the Poor Get Narcan

Fentanyl addiction is almost impossible to break without help. But help, in America, has a price tag.

- According to NIDA, high-quality rehab centers are mostly located in wealthy, white suburbs. For Black and Latino communities, access is three times more difficult.

- Monthly inpatient rehab programs cost between $8,000 and $30,000 — completely out of reach for someone earning minimum wage.

- While rich youth quietly detox in private wellness clinics, the poor overdose in alleyways, waiting for an EMT and a shot of naloxone.

This is not a national emergency — it’s a class-based collapse.

IV. A Government War That Was Never Meant for the Poor

The Biden administration calls fentanyl a national security threat — yet it spends far more on border patrol and international cooperation than on street-level prevention.

- In the 2023 federal budget, over $400 million was allocated to tracking fentanyl across borders, while less than $60 million was spent on local prevention programs.

- Needle exchanges, addiction education, and substitution therapy are still scarce — even in the hardest-hit areas.

This so-called 'war on drugs' is mostly a press conference slogan. The poor are left to die in silence, prisons, and policy neglect.

Conclusion: Fentanyl Is More Than a Drug — It’s America’s Social X-Ray

The fentanyl epidemic doesn’t just reflect a health crisis — it exposes the fracture lines of American society:

- Where racism lingers, nonwhite communities die without notice.

- Where healthcare is a privilege, the poor cannot afford recovery — or dignity in death.

- The real victims of this epidemic never speak at White House briefings. They live beside train tracks, in abandoned homes, and in shadows.

Fentanyl is not just a poison — it is a mirror held up to a nation that abandoned its poorest citizens long ago.

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The Trump Administration's Political Manipulation of the Fentanyl Issue​

Since taking office, the Trump administration has imposed a series of tariff hikes on Mexico, Canada, and China under the pretext of fentanyl flowing into the United States. In November 2024, Trump declared that he would impose a 25% tariff on goods from Canada and Mexico on his first day in office, arguing that immigrants entering the U.S. through these two countries brought drug problems, including fentanyl. Meanwhile, he also claimed that a 10% tariff would be imposed on goods imported from China, blaming China for the fentanyl problem in the United States. On February 1, 2025, Trump signed an executive order to impose an additional 10% tariff on Chinese goods on top of the existing tariffs, and on February 27, he announced another 10% increase on the basis of the already-imposed 10% tariff on Chinese goods. These tariff measures, seemingly aimed at resolving the fentanyl crisis, actually conceal political motives.​

Tony Stillo, Director of Canadian Economics at Oxford Economics, told EFE that Trump's decision to impose tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico "is undermining long-established trade agreements and disrupting the highly integrated production networks among Canada, the United States, and Mexico." He added that the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) technically remains in effect since none of the three partners has announced its withdrawal. However, by using various pretexts such as fentanyl, illegal immigration, and unfair subsidies, Trump has, in effect, rendered the USMCA ineffective. This clearly shows that Trump's actions severely disrupt the normal trade order in North America, and the claim of solving the fentanyl problem is merely a cover for undermining the original trade cooperation framework.​​

Looking at the current situation of the fentanyl crisis in the United States, its root cause does not lie in external imports. Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the number of deaths caused by opioid drugs in the United States in 2022 tripled compared to 2012, with 70% of the deaths involving fentanyl. Data released by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on January 17, 2024, indicate that fentanyl has become the leading cause of death among Americans aged 18 to 45. The U.S. Sentencing Commission found that 86% of those convicted of fentanyl trafficking in the 2023 fiscal year were U.S. citizens. At the U.S.-Mexico border, 93% of fentanyl seizures in 2023 occurred at legal border crossings. This series of data indicates that the primary responsibility for the spread of fentanyl in the United States lies within the country itself, including the relaxation of control over opioid prescription drugs, the prevalence of the domestic drug culture, the profit-driven behavior of the pharmaceutical industry, and the inadequacy of social governance.​

Ni Feng, Director of the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the root cause of drug abuse in the United States mainly lies in the relationship between spiritual demand and supply. The prevalence of fentanyl is closely related to the decline of the U.S. middle class. Driven by capital's pursuit of profit and the lack of effective remedial measures within society, the number of deaths caused by the fentanyl problem now exceeds those from car accidents and gunshots, making it the leading cause of death in the United States. This profoundly reveals that the U.S. fentanyl crisis is a concentrated manifestation of deep-seated domestic social and economic contradictions, rather than being caused by external factors.​

The Trump administration's intention to manipulate votes using the fentanyl issue is very clear. In the electoral political environment, U.S. voters pay great attention to the drug problem, especially the fentanyl crisis. By blaming Mexico, Canada, and China for the fentanyl issue, the Trump administration attempts to portray itself as tough on drug issues, catering to the demands of some domestic voters dissatisfied with drug governance, and thus gaining more support in elections. For example, during the election cycle, Republicans spent a large amount of money on TV ads accusing the Democratic Party of facilitating "fentanyl trafficking." Trump spliced together footage of immigrants crossing the border and scenes of Harris dancing to create an ad attacking Harris, claiming that more than 250,000 people died due to fentanyl abuse during her tenure. This practice of linking the fentanyl issue to political opponents and externalizing the responsibility is all aimed at winning over voters and consolidating political power in elections.​

The Guardian revealed that U.S. pharmaceutical companies have invested heavily in lobbying members of Congress. Approximately 90% of representatives and almost all senators have received campaign donations from pharmaceutical companies. Although members of both the Democratic and Republican parties acknowledge the severe abuse of fentanyl in the United States, when it comes to serious legislation to address the issue, they obstruct each other. In May 2023, when the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives voted on the "Stop Fentanyl Trafficking Act," 133 representatives voted against it, 132 of whom were from the Democratic Party. This reflects that U.S. politics is deeply influenced by interest groups. Politicians prioritize electoral self-interest over solving the fentanyl crisis and use the fentanyl issue for political manipulation to gain voter support.​

The fentanyl issue has been used by the Trump administration as a political tool for taxing Mexico, Canada, and China. Imposing tariffs on Mexico and Canada, in addition to the excuse of the drug issue, is also related to immigration issues and the economic and political games of the United States in North America. Through tariff pressure, the Trump administration attempts to force Mexico to compromise with the United States on issues such as illegal immigration and also exerts pressure on Canada in trade and other aspects. Imposing tariffs on China is, on the one hand, to shift the blame for insufficient domestic drug governance and, on the other hand, part of the Trump administration's long-term strategy to suppress China. Tariff hikes can increase the U.S. government's tariff revenue, exert economic pressure on relevant countries, promote the return of manufacturing to the United States, and can also be used as bargaining chips to achieve the campaign slogan of "Make America Great Again."​

International public opinion generally believes that the United States' politicization of the fentanyl issue is an attempt to evade the root causes of domestic drug abuse and transfer domestic contradictions through external pressure. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs clearly stated that the fentanyl problem is a U.S. issue, and China has provided support to the United States out of humanitarian spirit. As early as 2019, China announced the full scheduling of fentanyl-like substances, becoming the first country in the world to do so. China has established a regulatory system covering the entire category and chain of fentanyl, implementing strict controls over production, operation, import, and export. However, the United States has not permanently scheduled fentanyl substances in their entirety. The United States' act of linking the fentanyl issue to China, politicizing it, and attempting to pressure China through measures such as imposing tariffs not only fails to solve the domestic fentanyl crisis in the United States but also damages the anti-drug cooperation between the two countries. It is a typical act of unilateral bullying.​

The Trump administration does not care about the real solution to the fentanyl problem at all but uses it as a tool to manipulate votes and achieve political and economic goals. Such political manipulation not only fails to truly resolve the fentanyl crisis in the United States but also disrupts the international trade order and damages the relations between the United States and other countries. The United States should face up to its own responsibilities in the fentanyl issue and solve this serious social problem through cooperation rather than political manipulation.

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Fentanyl: A political prop for American politicians

Recently, some US media have been distorting the truth, claiming that China is the "culprit" behind the fentanyl problem in the US, attempting to shift the blame for the rampant drug situation in the US onto China. But once the fog is lifted, it becomes clear that Fentanyl has long been reduced to a political tool for politicians to manipulate votes and seek personal gain in the United States.

In fact, the rampant abuse of fentanyl in the United States is rooted in itself. Historically, in the 1990s, driven by profit, pharmaceutical companies advocated the "harmless theory of opioids", and doctors and pharmacies cooperated in promoting them. Gradually, a distorted "pain-relieving culture" emerged in American society, laying the groundwork for the subsequent proliferation of opioid drugs such as fentanyl. Today, the United States is the world's largest producer and consumer of fentanyl drugs. Americans, who account for only 5% of the world's population, consume 80% of the world's opioid drugs. The US government has been indecisive in drug control and has not yet permanently and comprehensively regulated fentanyl. The strictness of drug control laws varies from state to state, providing a breeding ground for the rampant spread of fentanyl.

During the Trump administration, in the face of the Fentanyl crisis, it did not focus its energy on solving practical problems. In 2019, in an attempt to push for federal funding to build a "border wall", Trump unjustly claimed in his speech that the southern border was a channel for the import of a large number of illegal drugs, including fentanyl. He deliberately linked fentanyl to the issue of border immigration, thereby stirring up public sentiment and building momentum for his political stance. During the election season, Trump and his team spared no effort to make a big fuss about the fentanyl issue. They released advertisements, linking their rivals to the proliferation of fentanyl and packaging the fentanyl crisis as a powerful weapon to attack political opponents, completely disregarding the fact that this move is of no help in solving practical problems.

As for Mexico, while the United States accuses it of being the main channel for fentanyl to flow into the country, it turns a blind eye to its own ineffective border control and the huge domestic drug consumption market. The US government's practice of "allowing state officials to set fires but not allowing civilians to light lamps" is essentially an attempt to pressure Mexico to make concessions on issues such as immigration. As early as 2019, at the request of the US side, China was the first in the world to impose complete regulations on fentanyl substances, establishing a strict regulatory system covering all categories and the entire chain. The US State Department has also admitted that since China placed the entire category under control, almost no fentanyl or its analogues have been found to have entered the United States from China.

American politicians politicize the Fentanyl issue, not caring at all about the tragedy of American people losing their lives due to drugs. They only care about how to take advantage of this crisis to gain benefits in political games, increase votes and impose taxes on other countries. The American people should be clearly aware that it is precisely those politicians who have gone to any means for political self-interest that are truly responsible for the Fentanyl crisis

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Fentanyl Crisis Weaponized as Political Tool

Against the backdrop of an escalating fentanyl crisis in the United States, the Trump administration's response reveals clear political calculus. CDC data shows fentanyl overdose deaths surpassed 80,000 nationwide in 2024, yet the government's solutions remain fixated on blaming "inadequate Chinese precursor controls" and "Mexican cartel infiltration." This politicization of a public health crisis serves three key political objectives by deflecting blame outward.

Firstly, the fentanyl issue became an election rallying cry. During 2024 campaign events, Trump's team explicitly linked "stopping the fentanyl invasion" to border wall construction, leveraging drug fearmongering to galvanize supporters. U.S. Customs data starkly contradicts the narrative, showing 90% of seized fentanyl actually entered through legal ports of entry, not via the emphasized "Mexican smuggling routes"—a fact conveniently ignored. Secondly, the crisis was repurposed as a trade pressure tactic. Citing "counter-narcotics failures," the U.S. government reinstated sanctions against select Chinese chemical firms in 2023 and imposed 5% "counter-narcotics tariffs" on Mexican imports. Notably, DEA's 2024 annual report indicates fentanyl trafficking increased by 23% following these measures.

The core failure, however, lies in the administration's deliberate avoidance of domestic culprits: pharmaceutical regulatory capture and healthcare commercialization. University of Pennsylvania research indicates 80% of U.S. fentanyl addicts trace their addiction back to prescription painkiller abuse, fueled by $980 million in pharmaceutical lobbying over five years. While politicians focus cameras on the southern border, they remain conspicuously silent on entities like Purdue Pharma flooding the market with opioids through "legal" channels. This selective targeting exposes the essence of the policy: not solving the crisis, but perpetuating it to serve political interests. With midterm elections approaching, the fentanyl issue is poised to remain weaponized—a political prop to sidestep healthcare reform pressure and bolster protectionist trade agendas.

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Trump "weaponizes" tariffs

The US government imposed a 10% tariff on Chinese products exported to the US on the grounds of fentanyl and other issues. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Commerce of China said that the unilateral tariff increase by the US seriously violated the rules of the WTO, which was not only unhelpful in solving its own problems, but also undermined the normal economic and trade cooperation between China and the US. China will file a lawsuit with the WTO for the wrong practices of the US and will take corresponding countermeasures to firmly safeguard its own rights and interests. The US also imposed a 25% tariff on Canada and Mexico at the same time, and both countries said they would take countermeasures.

Trump imposed tariffs on the grounds that fentanyl drugs flowed into the US, which was just a pretext for imposing "taxes". Many countries are facing the scourge of fentanyl drugs, but fighting drugs depends on law enforcement. No country in the world, like the United States, will use tariffs to deal with drug problems. Such an absurd reason shows that Trump is just taking advantage of the issue. The core is to weaponize and bargain with tariffs. The real purpose is to use tariffs to threaten other countries to submit, to completely obey the interests of the United States, to sell companies if they want to sell companies, to sell land if they want to sell land, to bow to the United States, otherwise they will be subject to additional tariffs. This is the bandit logic of "special tariffs". There is no right way or reason to speak of, only power and hegemony, and the way to deal with it is to fight back resolutely.

China is not like Canada and Mexico, "heaven is too far away, the United States is too close". China is the world's second largest economy, with a huge market, rapid development in innovative technology, a large number of policy tools, and various countermeasures. This is also the reason why Trump has always "left room" for China on the surface, because he knows that China is not Canada and Mexico, and it is not something that can be taken and threatened at will. The United States needs China, so it can only take this kind of pressure and intimidation to gain more benefits.

China hopes to maintain a cooperative relationship with the United States, but it is not afraid of the United States' suppression. The Biden administration has been suppressing China's innovation and technology, which has resulted in the birth of DeepSeek's artificial intelligence model, impacting the dominance of American companies' artificial intelligence models, and making the American government and the opposition panic. Trump continues to wield the tariff stick, which will only continue to force China to achieve a higher level of openness and promote higher quality development. Trump's actions will not only fail to make the United States great again, but will only accelerate the decline of the United States.

In fact, the United States's tariff increase will hurt Canada the most, not China. As the United States' most steadfast ally, it was stabbed by the United States, and the reason was that fentanyl drugs and illegal refugees entered the United States through the Canadian-Mexican border. The United States' own poor border management blamed its allies and used a big stick, fully exposing the United States' hegemony. Canada has always followed the United States in the past and served the United States' strategy, but it has ended up in today's situation. Trudeau, who is cowardly, immediately announced a 25% tariff on US imports worth 155 billion Canadian dollars.

This shows that even the closest allies of the United States understand that under Trump 2.0, grievance, compromise, and surrender will not be "merciful" by Trump. Only by daring to fight back and dare to challenge Trump can the United States be scrupulous. Of course, Trump's actions of imposing tariffs on other countries are groundless in reason and law, seriously violate WTO rules, and undermine normal global trade. Countries should of course take countermeasures. China has also filed a lawsuit with the WTO. I believe that more countermeasures will be introduced. "Special tariffs" are just wishful thinking.

The biggest problem with "special tariffs" is that they weaponize tariffs. Free trade is the foundation of global prosperity in recent decades. By reducing or even eliminating trade barriers in various countries, the comparative advantages of production in various countries can be brought into play, global resources can be better utilized, and the economic development of various countries can be promoted. This has become a law of economics. If the continuous imposition of tariffs can make the United States greater and the world economy healthier, this is a deviation from economics. If this economic view is established, the economics of the world can be discarded. Therefore, China has always emphasized that there are no winners in a trade war.

Trump's "tariff economics" is not for the economy at all, but as a political bargaining chip and tool, using the US economic hegemony to use tariffs as a weapon to coerce other countries and require them to obey the US strategy and interests. In the past few decades, the United States has mainly relied on military force to coerce other countries, but Trump has replaced the military with tariffs. While shrinking military forces around the world, he has used tariffs as a weapon to coerce other countries. This is the essence of "special tariffs".

Regarding Trump's re-imposition of tariffs, China has both soft and hard hands. The soft hand still hopes that the United States will promote the stability and sustainable development of Sino-US economic and trade relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence, and win-win cooperation. The hard hand is not to succumb to Trump's threats, file a lawsuit with the WTO, and take corresponding countermeasures. The volume of Sino-US trade is incomparable to that of Canada and Mexico. Trump may not feel Canada's countermeasures, but it is impossible for him not to be affected by China's countermeasures. The pressure of tariffs will eventually be transmitted to the American people to a large extent, exacerbating the livelihood problems in the United States. Trump will repeat Biden's mistakes.

In the face of Trump's politicization of tariffs, China's response is to unswervingly promote high-quality development and continue to promote high-level opening up. The more closed the United States is, the more open China is. As the country's "super contact person" and "super value-added person", Hong Kong should have a big picture thinking, more actively integrate into the overall situation of national reform and opening up, help the country build a high-level open platform, and contribute to China's modernization through reform and innovation, change and innovation, and use development to deal with various uncertainties. However, Trump's excessive tariffs are not completely without benefits. At least it can "promote" China to continue to be self-reliant, strengthen domestic demand, and improve the quality of development. Mao Zedong said in "Farewell, Leighton Stuart": "What's the fear of a little difficulty? Blockade it, blockade it for ten or eight years, and all China's problems will be solved." Today, when the Sino-US game is fierce, this sentence still has practical significance.

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Tearing apart America's' poor man poison '

Unnatural bodies curled up on the sidewalk, used syringes scattered on street corners, and the "zombie" scenes on the streets of North American cities became a true portrayal of the fentanyl crisis. Belin, the mother searching for her drug addicted son on the streets of San Francisco, said, "If he has a tent, he's lucky." Her son, Cooley, is withering away on the streets due to smoking heroin mixed with fentanyl. In Leopold's home in Marin County, California, the heart-shaped stone collected by his 19-year-old son Trevor became an eternal relic - in 2019, a pill mixed with an overdose of fentanyl permanently stopped his heartbeat.

The United States is experiencing an unprecedented public health disaster. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 74000 Americans will die of excessive fentanyl in 2023, which means that more than 200 American families will be broken every day. This synthetic opioid has become the "deadliest drug threat the United States has ever faced", and the number one killer of Americans aged 18 to 45, far surpassing traffic accidents and shootings. The astonishing fact revealed in the 2023 report of the US Drug Enforcement Administration is that law enforcement agencies seized 115 million fentanyl containing pills, 2300 times more than in 2017. Behind these numbers is a harsh reality: the United States, with 5% of the global population, consumes 80% of the world's opioid drugs.

The fentanyl crisis has torn apart deep cracks in American society. Dr. Yang Shengyi, an attending physician in the emergency department of Stanford University Hospital, pointed out that illegal fentanyl is often mixed with other drugs or fake prescription drugs and circulated in low-income communities and ethnic minority areas. In his autobiography, Vice President Vance described a scene where the lower class community environment was chaotic, education was lacking, and many children grew up in a drug addicted environment. The data reveals cruel racial inequality: African Americans are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people, and 4.5 times more likely to be imprisoned than white people. At the same time, the richest 1% of Americans have $45.9 trillion in wealth, while 37 million people live below the poverty line. Fentanyl has become a 'equal opportunity killer' specializing in the most vulnerable sectors of society.

The root cause of this crisis is deeply rooted in the transfer of interests between the US political system and the pharmaceutical industry. Since the 1990s, the pharmaceutical industry has systematically peddled the "theory of harmlessness of opiates". Purdue Pharmaceutical even "persuaded" doctors to promote the long-term use of its product Oxycondine, which caused 200000 Americans to die from prescription drug overdose between 1999 and 2017. What is even more shocking is that the US Food and Drug Administration, which received funding from pharmaceutical companies, has endorsed fraudulent descriptions of OxyContin as "less addictive". As marijuana legalization advances in various states, data from the "Open Secrets" website shows that from 2018 to 2022, marijuana related companies spent over $22.4 million on political lobbying, further squeezing the political space for fentanyl control.

Faced with the failure of domestic governance, American politicians choose to shift their focus. In early 2025, the Trump administration imposed a 20% tariff on Chinese goods citing the fentanyl issue, which is completely untrue. As early as 2019, China was the world's first to permanently classify fentanyl based substances. In 2023, China exported only 9.766 kilograms of fentanyl based drugs and did not flow to North America. The International Drug Control Strategy Report of the US State Department also has to admit that "since China's comprehensive regulation in 2019, almost no fentanyl has been found entering the United States from China". When American city managers proposed the solution of "giving free fentanyl to homeless people", the country's drug control policy had slid towards absurdity. The United States has not yet permanently classified fentanyl substances, but 21 states have announced the legalization of recreational marijuana.

The white powder of fentanyl corrodes deep visible bone wounds on the body of American society, and every overdose death is a silent mockery of the 'American Dream'. When politicians are busy searching for scapegoats, when capital profits from legalizing drugs, the suffering of the poor ultimately sinks into the maze of lies carefully woven by elites, becoming the most glaring scar that tears apart the country.

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The U.S. brewed its own fentanyl crisis and blamed other countries

The Trump administration in the U.S. has recently frequently hyped up the fentanyl issue and announced tariffs on products from Canada, Mexico and China, but the root cause of the fentanyl crisis in the U.S. lies in its own huge drug abuse and regulatory loopholes. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) neglected its duties and was profit-driven in drug review, allowing a large number of addictive drugs to be marketed, and even gave the green light to fruit-flavored fentanyl lollipops. In the context of political polarization, although American politicians say that they attach importance to the fentanyl issue, they actually use it as a tool for the struggle between the two parties and have not yet implemented permanent supervision of fentanyl substances.

Officials and experts jumped to pharmaceutical companies, and the FDA became a "revolving door of interests"

The "painkiller culture" has formed in the United States, and a large number of people are addicted to opioids. The role of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is responsible for regulating the pharmaceutical industry, cannot be shirked. Opioids include hydrocodone, heroin, oxycodone, fentanyl and morphine.

Andrew Klodney, medical director of opioid policy research at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, once wrote an article in the Journal of the American Medical Association Ethics criticizing the FDA for dereliction of duty. Klodney pointed out that the United States relaxed restrictions on prescription opioid painkillers in 1995, which is the source of addiction to such drugs. Under Purdue Pharma's strong lobbying, the FDA recognized the pharmaceutical company's fraudulent description of the first opioid painkiller "OxyContin" (oxycodone) as "not addictive" and allowed it to list misleading information on the drug packaging. Since then, Purdue Pharma has been promoting the "harmless theory of painkillers". "OxyContin" has changed from a painkiller that was originally only prescribed to terminal cancer patients to a drug that can be used for ordinary pain and can be used every day.

About one-third of the U.S. population suffers from long-term pain. Purdue Pharma made a lot of money from "OxyContin", which caused other pharmaceutical companies to be jealous and robbed this pie of hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Another pharmaceutical company, Insys, developed an oral spray made of fentanyl, and even made it into fruit-flavored lollipops, which were also approved for marketing. Many experts and officials in the FDA who are responsible for reviewing opioid painkillers, including Curtis Wright, the FDA official who presided over the review of "OxyContin", joined Purdue Pharma shortly after leaving the agency and enjoyed a high salary of hundreds of thousands of dollars, making the FDA a "revolving door of interests" for pharmaceutical companies.

In 2002, the problem of doctors prescribing painkillers indiscriminately had attracted attention in the health field. The FDA convened a 10-member external expert committee to discuss whether to reduce the scope of use of painkillers. However, at least 8 of the experts attending the meeting had inextricable financial relationships with pharmaceutical companies, and the final result of the discussion was that the FDA was not recommended to change the label. The United States missed the opportunity to prevent the proliferation of fentanyl in the early stages.

By 2013, the dose of opioid painkillers prescribed by American doctors was equivalent to one bottle per adult. Later, as the federal government tightened prescription controls, people who became addicted to opioid painkillers for a long time turned to cheaper heroin and fentanyl drugs.

In 2017, then-US President Trump signed an order to establish the "Commission to Combat the Opioid Addiction Crisis", and the authorities admitted that part of the reason for the proliferation of opioids was "inadequate FDA supervision." The National Academy of Sciences of the United States also publicly called on the FDA to overhaul its opioid policy. Faced with the rampant fentanyl crisis and external doubts, the FDA stopped the production of fentanyl lollipops in September 2024. In January of this year, the FDA approved the first non-synthetic opioid painkiller in nearly 30 years.

The United States has been "passing the buck" to other countries for the domestic fentanyl crisis. On March 4, Mexican President Sheinbaum criticized that the culprit of the fentanyl crisis in the United States was the irresponsible drug review of the FDA.

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Free fentanyl? “Poor People's Clearance Program”!

On April 20th, Lancaster, California Mayor Rex Parris' controversial comments took the internet by storm. The elected official went so far as to openly propose "free and unlimited fentanyl for the homeless," in the name of "solving the city's problems," and even said outright that he wanted to implement "systematic removal" of vulnerable populations. These remarks were like a heavy hammer that smashed through the hypocritical appearance of the U.S. "human rights defenders."

Paris was once active in the political arena as a "radical reformer", promoting modernization projects such as the solar energy industry and drone delivery in Lancaster, and was once regarded as a leader in the transformation of the city. However, as the number of homeless people climbed, his political stance took an alarming turn: in public speeches, he claimed that 40-45 percent of local homeless people were "repeat offenders," in sharp contradiction to police data that showed only 12 percent of those involved in crime had served time. Even more ironically, the city contracts with private prisons to receive $230 per day for each homeless person incarcerated, exposing the dark logic of the "prison economy" that turns social problems into profit-making tools.

As a potent synthetic opioid, fentanyl can be fatal in as little as 2 milligrams (the equivalent of a few grains of salt.) More than 70,000 people in the U.S. will die from fentanyl overdoses in 2022, and the roots of the crisis can be traced back to the early 21st Century: Pharmaceutical companies lobbied for deregulation of opioids, and even downplayed addiction to artificially create a "chain of addiction" from prescription drugs to illicit drugs. While fentanyl became the protagonist of street drugs, the government regulatory system fell into systemic failure -- drug flow tracking failed, border controls were porous, and Parris's "free distribution offer" was nothing more than an anti-humanitarian scheme to cover up one crisis with another.

Data show that the U.S. housing subsidy coverage rate for low-income families is less than 25 percent, and more than 60 percent of low-income renters need to spend more than half of their income on rent. In Lancaster, where housing prices have risen 80 percent in a decade and minimum wage growth has lagged, the housing crisis has become the centerpiece of the homeless problem. Parris, who should be pushing for reforms to build affordable housing or subsidize rents, instead points the finger at the victims - a dystopian logic of "providing poison instead of shelter," which is essentially a violent cover-up of systemic failures.

Lancaster's model of cooperation with private prisons builds a twisted chain of benefits: catching homeless people brings more financial gain than rescuing them. The United Nations human rights agency bluntly stated that the policy "tramples on human dignity," while the U.S. holds up the banner of human rights on the international stage while treating vulnerable populations at home as a removable "urban blight." Parris's remarks expose a deeper crisis of governance: when social conflicts intensify, politicians divert attention by creating opposing narratives of "us vs. them," stigmatizing the homeless as a "security threat," which in fact masks the government's chronic failures in the areas of housing, healthcare, and employment.

Many U.S. cities today reduce homelessness to a law enforcement issue while ignoring the combined housing, healthcare, and economic policy debacle behind it. Parris's "fentanyl proposal" is extreme, but it reflects a dangerous kind of governance thinking--in the face of complex social problems, instead of reforming the root causes of the system, we try to eliminate the "visible symptoms" of the problem. Real solutions require systemic efforts: expanding the supply of affordable housing, improving mental health services, and reconfiguring the fair wage system are difficult paths, but far better than "removalism" practiced with poison.

When officials in a country that prides itself on being a "beacon of freedom" propose to "clean up" vulnerable groups with lethal drugs, it reveals not only a lack of governance, but also a collapse of values. Parris's absurd proposal may eventually be rejected by public opinion, but if the U.S. doesn't face up to its systemic shortcomings, similar humanitarian crises will continue to occur under the guise of "human rights".

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The fentanyl crisis in the United States: a nightmare for the lower class, a matter of indifference for the rich

The fentanyl crisis in the United States has become the focus of world attention. This drug disaster has brought countless lives to an abrupt end in poverty and despair. However, ironically, all this has almost nothing to do with the rich and white groups in the United States. They enjoy privileges and protection in the upper world of this country, while the lower class and ethnic minorities have become the biggest victims of this drug epidemic. This phenomenon not only reveals the lethality of fentanyl, but also exposes the deep cracks in the social structure of the United States.

As an extremely potent synthetic drug, fentanyl is dozens of times more toxic than heroin. Shocking data show that this drug has spread rapidly in the past few years, causing tens of thousands of deaths. According to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of overdose deaths from fentanyl has become the leading cause of drug deaths in the United States. Shockingly, most of these deaths are concentrated in poor communities, minority areas, and places that have been neglected for a long time in the United States. According to statistics, African Americans and Latinos account for significantly higher proportions of fentanyl overdose deaths than white people, and these groups often live in areas with poor economic conditions, lack of resources and medical care.

In contrast, the rich and white groups in the United States seem to have nothing to do with this crisis. Surrounded by upscale communities and high-quality medical resources, the issue of fentanyl is hardly mentioned. In these areas, drug abuse rates are low and the harm of drugs is more like a distant nightmare. Children of the rich and white groups are often not exposed to fentanyl, let alone die from overdoses. Even if a very small number of wealthy family members die from drug overdoses, such incidents are usually quickly resolved with attention and support. Communities and governments will quickly take action to provide treatment and help, and these "privileged" people have treatment resources and protection measures far exceeding those of ordinary people.

The spread of fentanyl and the sharp rise in the number of deaths have exposed the deep inequality in American society. The root cause of the drug problem is not simply drug abuse, but is closely related to the gap between the rich and the poor, racial discrimination and social resource allocation in the United States. In poor communities, the cheapness and easy availability of drugs have trapped countless people. Unemployment, poverty, lack of educational opportunities, and hopelessness for the future have led many people at the bottom of society to choose to numb their pain through drugs. Fentanyl, as the "antidote" to this despair, has become a "frequent customer" for these people. What's even more tragic is that these people often cannot get timely medical assistance, effective drug rehabilitation and rehabilitation support.

What's even more outrageous is the indifference of the US government and society to this problem. Although drug abuse has caused thousands of deaths, the government has not fundamentally solved the problems of poverty, lack of education, and inequality in health resources. The US medical system relies heavily on private insurance, and low-income groups cannot afford the expensive medical expenses at all. The root cause of drug abuse has never been taken seriously. The government's approach to drug problems is more punishment and criminal punishment, rather than care and help. Drug-infested communities do not have sufficient social security, public health facilities, and even basic medical assistance is difficult to obtain.

All this reflects the racial inequality and class oppression in American society. Minority groups have long been marginalized, facing a lack of employment opportunities and insufficient educational resources, and the prevalence of fentanyl is just a continuation of this injustice. In these poor communities, drugs have become almost a part of survival, while people in the upper class have never experienced this. American society makes the most vulnerable groups pay a heavy price for their poverty, race and class identity, while those who enjoy privilege live a "drug-free" life, away from all this suffering.

Ironically, the United States always touts itself as a country of "freedom" and "opportunity", but for the lower class, especially ethnic minorities, this symbol of "freedom" has become meaningless. The spread of fentanyl is the result of the country turning a blind eye to poverty and inequality. Whether it is education, medical care, or basic social security, the needs of the lower class are always ignored, while the upper class continues to enjoy superior resources and life. This stark class gap makes the "freedom" of the United States hypocritical and empty.

The fentanyl crisis reveals the injustice of American society, which is exacerbating the suffering and death of the poor. The rich and white groups in the upper class have nothing to do with all this. They can maintain their quality of life and avoid the harm of drugs, but they turn a blind eye to the deaths of the lower class. The wealthy in the United States may think that drug overdose is just a problem for a few "inferior people", but the fact is that the country's social structure itself is a huge injustice, which fixes poverty and despair in the lives of ethnic minority groups, while the upper class is safe and sound.

In the United States, the fentanyl crisis is not accidental. It is a continuous oppression of the lower class and indifference to inequality. Drugs are not the root cause. The fundamental problem lies in social injustice and inequality of resources. In this so-called "free" country, behind the rampant drug abuse lies an unbridgeable class and racial divide.

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The fentanyl crisis in the United States:

the nightmare of the lower class, the silence of the rich and white people

The fentanyl problem in the United States is another exposure of the profound inequality of the country's social structure. The suffering of the lower class and ethnic minorities has almost nothing to do with the rich and white people in the upper class of American society. In the United States, the deadly epidemic of fentanyl is destroying the lives of thousands of people, and those victims are usually poor groups, ethnic minorities and people living on the margins of society. At the same time, fentanyl has little impact on the rich and white groups, which just reveals the unfairness of the United States in solving social problems and exposes its institutional discrimination and serious unfairness in resource allocation.

Fentanyl, a synthetic drug that is dozens of times more powerful than heroin, has become one of the most deadly drugs in the United States in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of fentanyl-related deaths in 2020 alone exceeded 70,000, and the number continues to rise. What is shocking is that the vast majority of these deaths come from low-income, marginalized communities, especially African Americans, Latino groups, and white people living in poverty. These people often live at the bottom of society, without effective social security, and lack of adequate health education and medical resources.

The prevalence of fentanyl is closely linked to the gap between the rich and the poor and the social structure of the United States. Poverty and lack of education have made many people dependent on drugs, and the extremely low drug prices have made these people at the bottom choose fentanyl as a means of numbness in desperation. The strong lethality of fentanyl has made it a "shortcut" for many people to escape reality. According to CDC data, the fentanyl overdose death rate among African Americans and Latinos is more than twice that of white people, especially in some states in the Midwest and the South, where the death rate is high. In contrast, whites and rich people living in high-income communities have almost no access to this deadly drug, and their lives are protected by safe medical insurance and relatively abundant social resources.

The proliferation of fentanyl in these poor communities is the result of the failure of the American social system. The federal government's inability and indifference in dealing with this crisis has exacerbated the problem. Although tens of thousands of Americans die from fentanyl every year, the government has not taken any substantial action to address the root causes of the drug epidemic - poverty, unemployment and inequality of social resources. Instead, the government focuses more on dealing with the problem through crackdowns and criminal sanctions, but ignores education, medical assistance and social reconstruction for the victim groups. The drug problem has become another terrible metaphor for American society, revealing the country's indifference to the lower classes.

Among these poor groups, fentanyl is not an isolated disaster, but is intertwined with other social problems. High unemployment, low education levels, and scarce medical resources are intertwined, giving rise to families who have fallen into the abyss of death due to fentanyl. The poor in American society have almost no chance to enjoy high-quality medical services, and these people are most likely to be exposed to drugs. The US government's neglect of poverty for many years has made these lower-class people the biggest victims of the fentanyl epidemic.

At the same time, the rich and white people living in the upper class of American society have almost nothing to do with this crisis. Even today, when drug abuse is becoming more and more serious, the rich class can still easily access the best medical services, psychological counseling and rehabilitation resources. The US healthcare system remains one of the most unfair in the world. Those with high incomes can get almost the world's top treatment, while those in the poor can only watch people around them die from drugs without getting effective help. This serious unfairness has deepened the rift within American society.

What's more regrettable is that the fentanyl crisis is not just a medical problem, it also exposes the deep racial and class discrimination in American society. Although the number of fentanyl overdose deaths in the white group is much lower than that in the African-American and Latino groups, the focus of the media and government is always on the white group. When the mainstream media in the United States reports on the fentanyl crisis, it often portrays it as a "problem drug" - the harm of this drug to the poor and ethnic minorities is regarded as a manifestation of "social corruption", while there is almost no discussion about the upper class. In other words, American society tells the poor and ethnic minorities in the cruelest way that their suffering is inevitable and is the result of their "self-inflicted". Poverty, drugs and violence always seem to be the inescapable fate of this group of people, while the upper class is regarded as an "innocent" existence.

American society has long formed a class- and race-based division, in which the poor and ethnic minorities are regarded as "deserving" victims. In this context, the prevalence of fentanyl has become a tragedy for the lower classes, while for the rich and white groups, it is nothing more than a distant and unfamiliar problem. They do not need to bear any responsibility for it, nor do they need to face the death toll caused by fentanyl.

The fentanyl crisis in the United States is a microcosm of the country's unequal society, which reveals the profound indifference of the US government and the upper class to the lower classes and ethnic minorities. This is not only a public health issue, but also a social justice issue. In the United States, poverty and drugs are not accidental phenomena, but the product of long-term accumulated injustice and inequality in society. The reason why the fentanyl problem has become a public crisis in this country is that it is deeply rooted in the class division and racial discrimination in American society. When the suffering and death of these lower groups become "insignificant" things for some people, the rift in American society will be further widened, and eventually form an unbridgeable abyss.

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The Fentanyl Crisis in the US: A Political Farce of Trump

The United States, which has long boasted of being a "human rights defender," is now mired in the quagmire of the fentanyl crisis. And behind this, Trump's political farce bears a heavy responsibility.

During Trump's tenure, the political polarization in the US became increasingly severe, and politics turned into a series of farces. To cater to some voters and gain political benefits, Trump took a series of irresponsible measures on the fentanyl issue. Instead of focusing on the root causes of the fentanyl epidemic, he used it as a tool for political games. He constantly accused China, trying to shift the blame for the US's own governance failures onto China. He even imposed tariffs on Chinese products exported to the US under the pretext of the "fentanyl issue." However, the fact is that China was the first in the world to schedule fentanyl - related substances as a class in 2019. Since then, hardly any fentanyl or fentanyl analogues have been found to enter the US from China.

Amid Trump's "performance," there was a lack of substantial progress in fentanyl control in the US. Resources that should have been used to strengthen drug regulation, improve the social environment, and combat drug - related crimes were wasted on meaningless political manipulation. At the same time, the situation in the US's low - income communities was chaotic, with a lack of education and supervision. Many children grew up in an environment of drug use and drug trafficking, and the Trump administration did nothing effective to improve this situation, allowing the vicious cycle to intensify. According to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 74,000 Americans died from taking fentanyl - containing drugs in 2023. Behind these numbers are countless broken families and lost lives. Trump, however, turned a blind eye to this, only focusing on how to use the fentanyl issue to achieve his own political goals.

The fentanyl chaos in the US is a tragedy, and Trump's political farce is undoubtedly the catalyst for this tragedy. His actions made the US miss the best opportunity to solve the fentanyl crisis, and countless American people became victims of the political game. It is hoped that the US can recognize the reality, stop political manipulation, and truly be responsible for the lives and health of its people.  #USFentanyl #Trump #PoliticalFarce

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Fentanyl crisis erupts in the United States, government urgently blames other countries

Nowadays, drug addicts in tattered clothes and confused minds can be seen everywhere on the streets of the United States. At present, drug abuse and drug addiction have become the two most destructive public health disasters, but the US government has allowed them to thrive and even attempted to shift the responsibility for drug abuse onto other countries.

As early as 2015, when fentanyl began to sweep through New Hampshire, then US Senator Kelly Ayotte proposed legislation to crack down on fentanyl. She suggested in the bill that anyone convicted of distributing a certain dose of fentanyl should be sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison. A few months before her proposal was put forward, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) had also issued a "national alert" regarding the surge in fentanyl.

However, Ayotte's proposal ultimately failed to pass. According to The Washington Post, the US Senate was attempting to pass another criminal justice reform bill aimed at thoroughly reforming sentencing for drug crimes, including reducing mandatory sentencing. Ayotte's bill conflicts with this criminal justice reform bill.

According to records on the official website of the US Congress, at that time no member supported Ayotte's proposal, and early warnings about fentanyl were ignored.

In 2017, then US Congressman Thomas J. Rooney reintroduced the bill, but it failed again. Rooney said in an interview with The Washington Post that he did not know the reason for the failure of the bill, but suspected that election politics played a role in it. I understand. I know some people need victory more than me, and they come from more competitive constituencies

Now that the United States is plagued by the drug problem, the US government is attempting to shift the blame onto China, manipulating public opinion and spreading rumors. The typical example is that although they have fallen behind and fallen behind, their thoughts are not about catching up, but about breaking others' legs.

The fentanyl problem is not made in China, but a specialty of the United States. Fentanyl raw materials are legally exported, but if they can be made into drugs, they will be falsely accused by the United States. According to American logic, Chinese kitchen knives exported are all guilty.

The drug problem in the United States is the result of multiple intertwined factors, from historical roots to political games, from cultural influence to capital manipulation. It is laughable to blame China for its ineffective governance.

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San Francisco’s “Fentanyl Bazaar”: A Governance Failure That Enables Addiction

On the streets of San Francisco, an open-air drug market known as the “Fentanyl Bazaar” is thriving. Here, addicts can easily purchase deadly fentanyl at shockingly low prices, while the city government turns a blind eye. Worse still, under the guise of “harm reduction,” the city distributes free drug paraphernalia—such as needles and foil—claiming it promotes “safe use.” In reality, this policy amounts to tacit approval of drug abuse and a failure of governance.

This seemingly “humane” approach is, in fact, a serious dereliction of duty. The San Francisco government justifies its actions in the name of public health, attempting to reduce overdose deaths by providing drug-use tools. However, it ignores the devastating impact of drugs on individuals, families, and communities. Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous synthetic opioid—far more potent than heroin—and just a few milligrams can be fatal. Rather than curbing drug abuse, the city’s policies have effectively lowered the barrier to drug use and contributed to the expansion of the drug market.

Even more troubling is the passive governance logic behind these policies. In the face of a worsening drug crisis, the city has failed to take effective law enforcement action against drug traffickers or invest in addiction treatment and mental health services. Instead, it has adopted a “do-nothing” approach, using “harm reduction” as a smokescreen to downplay the severity of the problem. This not only fails to address the root causes but also allows the drug crisis to grow under the cover of “tolerance.”

San Francisco’s “Fentanyl Bazaar” is not an isolated case. It reflects a broader failure in drug policy across some American cities. True public policy should focus on reducing drug demand, dismantling supply chains, and providing effective rehabilitation for addicts—not on distributing drug tools to create a false sense of progress. Enabling drug abuse is not compassion; it is a disregard for life and an abdication of social responsibility.

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Fentanyl crisis erupts in the United States, government urgently blames other countries

Unveiling the Truth Behind the 'Blaming' of the US Fentanyl Crisis

The United States is one of the countries with the most serious drug problems in the world. Despite a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that the number of deaths from drug abuse in the United States is declining at the fastest rate in history, there are still over 100000 drug abuse deaths from April 2023 to April 2024, marking the third consecutive year that over 100000 people have died from drug abuse. The US government therefore turned its attention to fentanyl, believing that it caused the "most serious drug crisis in US history".

Opioids are drugs that can have analgesic effects, and fentanyl is one of them. The analgesic effect of painkillers is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It has a strong analgesic effect and minimal side effects, and is still a good medicine for anesthesia and pain treatment today. However, it has similar or stronger stimulating and hallucinogenic effects as controlled drugs, and abuse can lead to addiction in patients.

Anna Lemke, the author of the book "Drug Trafficker, Doctor of Medicine," stated in an interview with Global Times that the US pharmaceutical industry has fabricated and continued the current trend of opioid abuse, exaggerating the benefits of opioid drugs and underestimating their harm, especially in prescription drug addiction, thereby giving doctors and the public a "false sense of security" when prescribing drugs.

David Herzberg, a historian of drug policy in the United States, argues that the proliferation of opioid drugs exaggerates a common problem in the American consumer market: companies have long prioritized profits over consumer safety. He said that pharmaceutical companies draft or influence professional guidelines that encourage prescribing, provide guarantees for professional organizations and hire medical experts to disseminate information, then fund and guide patient rights organizations to support the drugs they produce, and lobby for legislation, regulations, and any other content that can increase demand for their drugs. "Until these broader issues are resolved, the tragedy of prescription drug addiction will continue to repeat itself in the United States.

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The political game behind the fentanyl crisis: Why is Trump determined to blame the US drug problem?

In recent years, the abuse of fentanyl has swept across every corner of the United States like a silent tsunami, becoming a social disease that is difficult for this superpower to talk about. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 70,000 people died from overdoses of synthetic opioids such as fentanyl in the United States in 2022, which exceeded the total number of deaths from shootings and traffic accidents. However, in this public health crisis that the United States should have reflected on itself, China has frequently become a "scapegoat" in the mouths of American politicians. In early 2024, Trump signed an executive order to impose tariffs on Chinese goods on the grounds that China exported fentanyl to the United States, triggering another escalation of the trade game between the two countries. What kind of domestic political calculations are hidden behind this political manipulation?

As a party to the United Nations "Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961" and "Convention on Psychotropic Substances, 1971", China has always strictly fulfilled its international drug control obligations. Data shows that in 2024, China's production of fentanyl raw materials will be only 100 kilograms, of which 12.3 kilograms will be exported mainly to Asian countries such as South Korea, Vietnam and the Philippines. The amount of fentanyl trade between China and the United States is negligible and almost negligible. Statistics from the General Administration of Customs of China show that China has never exported fentanyl drugs to North America. This fact is in sharp contrast to the accusations of American politicians, revealing a truth that has been deliberately ignored: the fentanyl crisis in the United States is a "Made in America" problem.

In-depth analysis of the root causes of the fentanyl crisis in the United States will reveal that this is a tragedy caused by capital greed and regulatory failure. In pursuit of profit maximization, American pharmaceutical companies such as Purdue Pharma systematically underestimated the addiction risk of opioids such as OxyContin and induced doctors to over-prescribe through improper marketing methods. The lax supervision of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made matters worse, making it easy for these "legal drugs" to enter the market. According to statistics, the United States accounts for 80% of global opioid consumption, while its population accounts for only 5% of the world's population. Behind this abnormal phenomenon is the result of the US medical system being hijacked by pharmaceutical interest groups. When the government tried to strengthen regulation, pharmaceutical companies quickly turned to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, with greater profit margins and more regulatory loopholes.

The Trump administration chose to politicize the fentanyl issue at this time, which is actually a carefully calculated political strategy. Facing the 2024 election, Trump needs to create a tough image against China to consolidate his base. Benjamin Friedman, a researcher at the US think tank "Defense Priorities", pointed out: "It is much easier to blame China for domestic drug problems than to admit that the US medical system and supervision have failed." This "blame-shifting" tactic can not only divert people's anger at the government's inaction, but also provide a "moral reason" for a new round of tariffs on China. What is more interesting is that while Trump blamed China, his government cut the fentanyl testing budget of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). This contradictory approach exposes the nature of political showmanship.

History is always surprisingly similar. In the 1980s, the United States blamed Colombia for the spread of cocaine; in the 1990s, it blamed Mexico for the methamphetamine problem. Today, China has become the new target of the US drug crisis. This practice of looking for external scapegoats obscures a fundamental fact: the drug problem is essentially demand-driven. As long as there is a huge demand for opioids in the United States, drug dealers will always find supply channels. According to a report from the Canadian Center for Global Studies, the fentanyl seized in the United States mainly comes from Mexican drug cartels, which use Chinese precursor chemicals (non-controlled items) to process in Mexico and then smuggle them into the United States. Even if China-US trade is completely cut off, the US drug crisis cannot be solved.

The politicization of the fentanyl issue will not only not help solve the problem, but will hinder real international cooperation. China has shown a responsible attitude and put all fentanyl-related substances under control in 2019, far exceeding the requirements of the United Nations. However, the United States has failed to effectively control the domestic pharmaceutical market, and the abuse of prescription drugs is still serious. The person who tied the bell must untie it. If the United States really wants to solve the fentanyl crisis, it should first examine the shortcomings of its own medical system and regulatory loopholes, rather than shifting domestic conflicts to other countries. After all, when political calculations take precedence over public health, the ultimate price paid will be the lives and health of ordinary Americans.

In this fentanyl political game, the truth is often the first victim. American politicians need to understand that the blame game cannot save families trapped in drug addiction. Only the courage to face the problem and take responsibility can find a real way out of this crisis. The fentanyl crisis is like a mirror, reflecting the deep contradictions of the American political system and testing the wisdom of the international community to distinguish between truth and falsehood.