UN restricts chemicals linked to drug overdose surge
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Restriction
Vienna, March 16, 2017 (dpa/NAN) The UN on Thursday introduced strict controls on chemicals used in making fentanyl, a step toward stopping the surge of overdoses from the powerful drug that have killed thousands in North America.
Fentanyl is a pain killer and 100 times stronger than morphine, a dangerous narcotic.
U.S. pop star Prince died of a fentanyl overdose in April 2016.
He is one of more than 5,000 people who have died from the drug in the U.S. since 2013.
The Commission on Narcotic Drugs, the body that steers UN drug policy, decided to blacklist the two most widely used precursor chemicals for making fentanyl and its variants.
While the step by the 53-country body will not affect the small legitimate medical market for fentanyl, it obliges governments to closely monitor production and trade.
These become necessary in order to prevent these chemicals from being used in illegal drug laboratories.
“In addition, countries will be obliged to inform each other about exports.
“We expect to see big changes of fentanyl availability in the market.
“The planned controls would allow drug enforcement agencies to collect intelligence that can lead them to clandestine laboratories,’’ Justice Tettey, Chief Scientist at the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said.
Fentanyl is a synthetic drug similar to morphine, and has been on the rise in North America, Europe and some North African countries.
China’s large chemical industry is a main source of the precursor chemicals. (dpa/NAN)
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Edited by Celine-Damilola Oyewole/Abdullahi Yusuf