WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken says fentanyl is now the leading cause of death for Americans between 18 and 49.
“Not cancer. Not car accidents. Not violence,” Blinken said. “It’s fentanyl.”
Blinken told nearly 300 mayors from around the country at the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ 92nd Winter Meeting in Washington on Friday that fighting the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. is a global effort.
“The ingredients that go into making fentanyl, the so-called chemical precursors, a lot of them right now are being made in China,” Blinken said. “And then they get illicitly shipped, typically to Mexico, synthesized into fentanyl and then it winds up in the United States.”
Blinken left the mayors conference to meet with the Mexican Foreign Minister about efforts to reduce migration and the flow of fentanyl across the southern border.
U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, says Democrats are to blame for the fentanyl crisis.
“We are talking about dead children from fentanyl poisoning because of wide open borders,” Roy said.
But U.S. Rep. Lou Correa, D-California, says Congress needs to put politics aside to address the issue.
“Democrats, Republicans on both houses with the president need to stop bickering,” Correa said. “We have to stop fighting to come together to protect middle America.”
Jared Kraham, mayor of Binghamton, New York, says American communities need more help fighting the drug here at home. Kraham is asking the Biden administration to send more money, now.
“It’s killing young people in cities like Binghamton,” Kraham said. “More resources and more umbrella approach that gives funding directly to cities that are on the frontline of this.”
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