Death rates in the United States due to fentanyl overdose can decrease as two chemicals used to make the drug are already added in the control list. The action was initiated by the U.N. body hoping to ensure a closer monitoring regarding the suspicious orders and transactions concerning the drug.
Commission on Narcotic Drugs is the governing body of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) which is based in Vienna. These authorities voted two fentanyl precursors and a similar drug to be added to the international control list.
According to Fox News, the UNODC named the two precursors as 4-anilino-N-phenethylpiperidine (ANPP) and N-phenethyl-4-piperidone (NPP). Butyrfentanyl, a drug which is similar and an analog of fentanyl was also added to the international control list.
This particular action will make it harder for the criminals that are illegally producing fentanyl to avail the necessary raw materials or chemicals used in the manufacture. Furthermore, it will also require all countries to control and regulate transactions such as manufacturing, dispense, importing, and export of the abusive drug, as stated by U.S. State Department spokeswoman.
As reported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the death rates of opioids excluding methadone but including tramadol and fentanyl has increased by 72.2 percent from 2014 to 2015. These reports particularly concern those illicitly or illegally manufactured the form of the drug. This finding suggests that the overdose death is largely caused by the illegal act and not by the legally prescribed drugs.
Fentanyl is a man-made opioid that is fifty times more potent than heroin while hundred times more potent than morphine. There is two form of the drug; the one that is legally manufactured to manage the acute and chronic pain associated with cancer ( a pharmaceutical drug) while the other is illicitly manufactured together with morphine and cocaine to increase its addictive effect (non-pharmaceutical drug).
The action of the U.N. body in controlling the manufacture of fentanyl might lessen the illicit or illegal produce of the latter. Reducing death rates caused by the overdose of the non-pharmaceutical drug is also the main goal of the decision made.
