Wednesday, August 14, 2024

What are the parallels between China's 19th-Century Opium Crisis and the current fentanyl crisis in the United States?

Recommendable!

The article below refers to the two Opium Wars between 1839 and 1860. Back then China blamed Western powers for destroying their society.

How much is the Communist Party of China responsible e.g. for the current  fentanyl epidemic in the US?

Is this part of unconventional warfare against open societies?

They say history does not repeat, but it rhymes!

"Deaths involving synthetic opioids—primarily fentanyl—have risen sharply in recent years. According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were nearly 74,000 such deaths in 2022. Although these losses are staggering, America's opioid crisis is not without historical precedent, say RAND experts. At the beginning of the 19th century, widespread addiction to opium in China destroyed millions of lives and ravaged the country. Breaking down China's history of being blighted by drugs reveals insights that may help the United States “fight the human and societal damage that fentanyl inflicts on Americans today.” ..."

"... China's history of being blighted by drugs can provide the United States with insights into ways to fight the human and societal damage that fentanyl inflicts on Americans today. ...
A key feature of China's opium epidemic is that it was state-sponsored. In the early 19th century, British merchants wanted to sell Indian-grown opium in China, while Chinese officials attempted to crack down on this illegal trade. Rather than aiming to constrain the opium trade, however, the British government not only encouraged but advanced it. ...
The Chinese Communist Party prides itself on having largely eliminated the scourge of opium consumption since it seized power in 1949. The communists have not, however, stopped the production and distribution of fentanyl precursors that are used to make fentanyl in Mexico for export to the United States. ...
While Britain, not America, was primarily responsible for inflicting drugs on China, the United States was also not blameless. Not only did it play a role in the Second Opium War and subsequent encroachments on Chinese territory, but there were also U.S. merchants involved in the opium trade, who operated in China under unequal treaties imposed by the U.S. government. ...
There is no explicit proof that the Chinese Communist Party is deliberately conducting or permitting the export of fentanyl or fentanyl precursors through malign neglect, though a recent report (PDF) highlights the Chinese government's tolerance of select organized crime networks. ...
There is no explicit proof that the Chinese Communist Party is deliberately conducting or permitting the export of fentanyl or fentanyl precursors through malign neglect, though a recent report (PDF) highlights the Chinese government's tolerance of select organized crime networks.
It is clear, however, that a totalitarian government—one that has been ruthless in punishing drug dealers, other criminals, and dissidents inside China—has not been as successful in countering drug flows from its shores. ..."

Policy Currents Newsletter: August 13, 2024 | RAND

No comments: