The U.S. Drugs Enforcement Administration welcomed China's move to ban fentanyl and carfentanil, which created a heroin epidemic in Ohio. (Photo : Getty Images)
The CNNCC declared that fentanyl and carfentanil will be controlled because of the surge in opioid production in the country.
China is the main producer of opioids. There are 66 types of fentanyl opioids that are found in China. Between 2012 and 2015, there were only six.
Carfentanil is a stronger variety of drugs that is 10,000 stronger than morphine. The drug is so powerful that it 2 milligrams of the substance can kill a human adult.
The United States Drug Enforcement Administration welcomed the move. Russell Baer, a special agent of the agency said that this will slow down the sale of the drug in the country.
Last year, 174 people in Cincinnati were hospitalized due to overdose from carfentanil. A case of two parents who fell unconscious while driving with their 4-year-old son was due to an overdose of the drug.
Policemen found a vehicle swerving recklessly on the street and found the two parents who overdosed while their son was seated in the backseat.
Two dealers of heroin laced with carfentanil were arrested. A grand jury charged Phillip Watkins, a 31-year-old, and Jeannetta Crawford, 26 years old.
They are believed to be boyfriend and girlfriend. They were caught to be selling heroin with carfentanil in four occasions.
Acting U. S. attorney Benjamin Glassman said, "This is the first carfentanyl trafficking case that we have ever brought in this district, in the region, in Ohio."
He added, "And I believe it is the first federal carfentanil indictment ever in the country."
American health officials were alarmed at the sudden spike of overdose cases that affected six states in 48 hours.
"It's unlike anything we've seen before," Hamilton County Commissioner Dennis Deters said.
Carfentanyl is the most powerful opioid in the world. It is cheap to produce and the substance is odorless and colorless, making it difficult to detect.
Dealers have been adding it to heroine to give a more potent and longer high.
