Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee led a roundtable discussion on fentanyl’s flow into this country and highlighted how Big Tech helps facilitate dealers with getting their drugs to vulnerable populations.
The drugs are often fentanyl, or laced with fentanyl, and reach vulnerable populations that include more young Americans, according to a press release issued Jan 27.
“We’ve seen numerous reports detailing how big tech encourages addictive behaviors in our children to keep them glued to their screens and fails to protect their users from malicious actors on their platforms like drug dealers—targeting vulnerable populations with counterfeit drugs laced with fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances," said Rep. Cathy Rodgers (R-Wash.), according to the release. "Every day more Americans die from illicit fentanyl-related poisoning.”
Carrie Goldberg, owner of C.A. Goldberg, told House members that almost all fentanyl poisonings have three things in common: the purchaser was a teenager, they thought that they were purchasing something recreational, not fentanyl, and the transaction occurred through the online platform Snapchat.
Spokane County, Washington Sheriff John Nowels said drug traffickers' use of social media and electronic communications negatively impacts communities. He said his office must make significant investments to keep up with the technology as traffickers have found more online ways to communicate and distribute drugs than police can keep up with.
“We need help to combat this. Our drug dealers are all-too-often allowed to operate in secrecy,” Nowels said. “This is a significant issue in every community in this country. We need help to hold people accountable who are poisoning our children.”
Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.) tweeted “With drug dealers now using social media to distribute their product on platforms used by children, it’s critical that Congress holds these organizations accountable."
Despite China’s regulations on fentanyl and its precursors in 2019, the Chinese remain the top U.S. fentanyl supplier with most of the drug supplied indirectly, the Brookings Institute reported. The report described China’s cooperation in counter-narcotics efforts as “highly selective, self-serving, limited and subordinated to its geopolitical interests.” China has refused to accept co-responsibility for the fentanyl epidemic and maintains that Mexican law enforcement should step up.
The Drug Enforcement Administration reported seizing more than 379 million potentially deadly doses of fentanyl in 2022, enough fentanyl to kill every American.
Fentanyl is cheap to produce and high in potency. Drug traffickers mix it with other drugs, according to the DEA. Agents have found the synthetic opioid in basically every street drug and in counterfeit prescriptions.
Mexican cartels can purchase the raw chemicals from China, produce fentanyl cheaply and then mix it in with other drugs, which are then trafficked into the U.S.
