One-on-one with Dr. Rahul Gupta: The White House's response to the fentanyl crisis
TAMPA, Fla. - Studies show fentanyl is now a leading cause of death among young adults.
Statistics also show somebody in our country dies of a fatal overdose about every five minutes, and it's costing our nation about $1.5 trillion a year.
Much of the fentanyl has been coming into the United States through Mexico, and the federal government is stepping up efforts to cut off the supply.
FOX 13 Political Editor Craig Patrick sat down with Rahul Gupta, the director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, for insight on the crisis and the federal plans to address it.
Craig Patrick: We've had crises of other illicit drugs. How and why did fentanyl shoot up the ranks and become a far more pressing and immediate threat compared to other illicit drugs that surely still cause great harm but have ravaged our nation more in the past than fentanyl certainly does today?
Dr. Rahul Gupta: We are moving away from organic or plant-based drugs to synthetic drugs like fentanyl and meth. Secondly, the drug supply has become extremely lethal, meaning that fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. So, it's become more dangerous today. And thirdly, I will say, the way we consume and purchase drugs has also changed. Today, a teenager can log on to the social media app and buy what they think is maybe Xanax or Adderall and end up getting a counterfeit pill which has potentially lethal doses of fentanyl and not even know.
Patrick: Much of the supply used to make fentanyl comes from China. Then much of it goes to Mexico, where the drug cartels then turn it into fentanyl. Why has the government of China to this point not done more to cut off that flow of components to this poison before it reaches the United States?
Dr. Gupta: Well, I can tell you that from day one, President Biden has had as his top priority disrupting the entire global supply chain of drugs like fentanyl. That includes the precursors that come from China. And it is because of that and the pressure that just a few weeks ago, in a meeting with President Xi of China, China agreed to resume not only cooperation, but take specific actions to clamp down on its own industry. We feel that this is a good first step. More needs to be done. We're going to continue to work with China, but also our allies and partners across the globe.
Patrick: Where are the soft spots in border security that is allowing the fentanyl to get into our country, and what can we do about it?
Dr. Gupta: Over 90% of the fentanyl that comes in comes through the ports of entry. There are so many ports of entry. And one of the top priorities for the president is to make sure that we have the drug detection devices and capable force and customs border protection at the border to disrupt that. In fact, in just the last few years, we have record amounts of seizures of fentanyl at the border. That's the amount of fentanyl that is not coming into our communities and killing Americans... Now, the president has requested Congress to provide additional funding to make sure we have more drug detection machines, whether we are looking at passenger vehicles, cargo vehicles, individuals, as well as an adequate number of customs and border protection agents at the border. That's going to be really important to make sure that every port of entry and every vehicle that comes through that needs to be inspected gets screened by the drug detection machine. That’s a top priority for President Biden and part of his unity agenda. And we're asking Congress to act on that as quickly as possible because it's an issue that requires urgent attention.