Weaponizing 'fentanyl' toxic prescription

By imposing additional tariffs up to 125 percent on Chinese goods, US President Donald Trump has surpassed the coercive economic actions he took during his first term. The US' tariff rate on Chinese imports now effectively totals 145 percent. The US leader's tariff strategy naturally evokes memories of his first term during which his administration triggered a prolonged trade dispute partly by blaming China for the fentanyl crisis in the US.

The US' "war on drugs" has never been a campaign to address abuse of narcotics. Instead, it is a ploy to discriminate against marginalized communities. Since its inception in the 1930s under Harry Anslinger, the doyen of the US' narcotics policy implemented through the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, the predecessor to the Drug Enforcement Administration, the campaign has targeted minority communities.

The weaponization of the US' drug policy during the Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan administrations extended the ambit of the "war on drugs" overseas. Central and South American nations were targeted by the US' "war on drugs", with the two regions facing discrimination and heavy-handed US actions that have continued to this day.