The Opioid Crisis Gone Global: The Transnational Synthetic Drugs Challenge

New York City Foreign Press Center briefing on “The Opioid Crisis Gone Global: The Transnational Synthetic Drugs Challenge”

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Transcript

[Liz] All right, hi, we’re gonna get started. I feel like someone just stepped out. Yeah, no, okay. All right, so good afternoon and welcome to the Foreign Press Center in New York. I’m Liz Detmeister the Director. This is Kirsten Madison, she is the Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, and she’ll be giving opening remarks and then taking questions from you. If I could ask you to silence your cell phones and when we pass the microphones around for questions if you would start by identifying yourself by your name and your outlet, this is on the record. We are being live streamed and a transcript will be available afterward.

Good afternoon everyone, first of all, thank you very much for taking the time to join us here at the Foreign Press Center. Truly, we know that there is no shortage of news today and this week. Uh, so I’m very encouraged, because of your interest in on the pressing issues of synthetic drugs and opioids. This challenge really does desperately need attention. Not only from officials here in this town, from officials in Washington and capitols around the world, but also from companies and citizens and communicators such as yourself. The synthetic drug crisis, which has fueled the latest wave of America’s opioid epidemic, is a transnational phenomena. It’s metastasizing, it’s proliferating around the world, encountering requires the urgent attention and action of the entire international community. I will say this very clearly, there is no room for complacency. My part of the US Department of State, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, plays a key role in the global fight against these increasingly cheap, abundant and lethal, illicit synthetic drugs. We use our diplomacy and our foreign assistance tools, and we put those to work in this effort. This complements the work done by our law enforcement agencies and the many others who are focused on prevention, treatment and recovery here in the United States. And all of those pieces are really important, in this larger puzzle. But we also know, because this is a dynamic threat, that we need to look beyond our traditional partnerships if we really hope to confront it in a meaningful and significant way. That’s why later today I’m pleased to be joining major companies at the Concordia Summit, to launch a new international initiative with the private sector. What we’re trying to do is connect with the private sector, with their creativity, with their dynamism, and to figure out what else we might be able to do together to take this issue on. Today’s drug crisis, turbo-charged by globalization and new technology really does take advantage of private sector platforms and goods. Increasingly, synthetics are being sold on the dark net and paid for with anonymizing financial instruments. Like cryptocurrencies. They are dropped in the mail, or consignment shipped, into towns and cities across America. It’s a dangerously diffuse, dangerously accessible supply chain. It is a direct-to-consumer marketing business model. The private sector, we believe, can help prevent and combat the manufacture, diversion, sale and misuse of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals, by mobilizing their unique resources, technologies and expertise. We also know that companies can be important partners in prevention and treatment, because after all, they have an interest in the people that work for them, and the communities in which they’re present. So let me stop there and just begin, to say once again thank you for being here, and that I welcome your questions.

[Man] Oh, thank you. Are we talking about illicitly-made drugs? Or commercially-available drugs that are diverted to the black market, or both?

We’re talking about both. I think what’s going on in the synthetic drug market is really both, we focus, in my bureau, primarily on the international sources of illicitly-marketed or illicitly-produced drugs, but, I think it’s both.

[David] Hi, my name is David McClure, from NHK Japan Broadcasting Corporation. You said that you are going to be, speaking at a summit with, the entire purpose is to help the private sector come into trying to establish some sort of path forward. Specifically, what kind of companies are you looking for, what, who are the actors here, what are the ways forward, and then, what specifically, you mentioned this is a global, international issue, are there any specific avenues that are of particular concern that you’re specifically trying to work on addressing? Like, any specific global actors that are difficult and—

Let me say again, this is a global challenge. We know early on that, and on a continuing basis that China is the source of many of the synthetic opioids, and they have been the source of some of the precursor chemicals. We’ve been working with China on that. Their president, agreed with our president that they would take more action to control, particularly Fentanyls and synthetics as a class. Which we think is a great step. We are beginning to see production and, transit through Mexico, that’s something that is part of our conversation with the government of Mexico. And the question of how we work together going forward is really important, not only to our citizens, but also to Mexico. On the bigger question on the companies. So, again the business model here is actually quite different then old business models. If you were talking about traditional mark, trafficking and marketing of things like cocaine. So happens is that, the synthetic opioids that we’re seeing that are impacting the US so dramatically, again it’s direct-to-consumer marketing, they might use the dark net, peer-to-peer apps, pay for them with anonymizing currencies and financial instruments. And then they get dropped into the mail, and then they get dropped into consignment shipping. So we’re interested in a conversation with companies that use those platforms, and are involved in those activities, but we also want to have a conversation with companies that are in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, because what we’re after is the best possible coalition of partners to go after all the pieces of the business model, and we, I have seen it in other areas, like wildlife trafficking, where there is a lot of creativity in the private sector around the idea that they have something to contribute to addressing these issues and to ensuring that their business’s are not inadvertently complicit in these activities. Thank you.

[Man] Does the State Department have a position on the proposed settlement with Purdue Pharma?

That’s not something I’m in a position to discuss. The State Department, my focus is international partnerships who could address these issues, and the use of our diplomacy and foreign assistance in that effort.

[Woman] Any other questions?

[Reporter] Hi, Kimoa Veinstein, from a Japanese newspaper (speaking in foreign language) I would like to ask you why does the United States un-proportionally a problem of the usage of opioid? Our statistic shows in the website, the US is by far 47,000, DPO’s and then 2013-15. This is just a glance from our website. US is by far, the opioid, main opioid, opioid user. Followed by Germany which is less than, much much less, 30,000. But in Japan, for example, which I’m writing for, is much lower, and followed by other countries, much, much, lower, the US is particularly outstanding. I would like to ask you, why so?

Thank you for the question. Let me begin by saying, yes we have a significant problem in this country. It’s why this administration, the US Congress and president Trump’s administration have concentrated a lot of resources on prevention and treatment and recovery at home, because we recognize there is a piece of this that is about what’s happening here in the United States. The United States does have a big problem, we are not the only country. I think Canada is experiencing a very profound problem with synthetic opioids, and we know that the other countries are beginning to experience these problems. And we know that they have popped up in 37 countries around the world. I just saw another report that said actually they’ve shown up in 51 countries. So it could be as low as 37 or as high as 51. The point is that this is a global issue, and our concern is that every step that we can take in partnership with our counterparts internationally, with industry, with NGO’s to have, ensure that other countries don’t experiencing, experience what we have, we should take. I think the United States had some very particular things go on. There was, it began in the over-prescription, but it’s also was connected to what happened in the illicit markets and the response of illicit actors to the demand signal. And I think it began to sort of grow and build to a point that’s really catastrophic. Again, we’re working on it domestically, but I don’t think any country should be complacent about the possibility of this particular problem coming to them, we’re not unique. It’s popping up in more places, and that’s why from our perspective, it requires a global response, and an urgent one.

[Stephen] Hello, my name is Stephen Botes. I work with a German newspaper. I had one question regarding the private-sector partnership you mentioned. Could you be more specific, or maybe I missed this, but which companies are you working with specifically in the US?

So, the, our effort this afternoon at the Concordia Summit is actually to sit down with companies and begin a conversation about what else we might do with them. So there’s quite a lot of companies that are represented, at that venue. I think more specifically, this administration which is outside, this is outside of my purview, but this administration has issued a series of advisories to companies that are involved in the industries that I listed earlier, that’s intended to help those companies understand the potential for their business to be used, as a mechanism for the movement of illicit, synthetic opioids. I don’t actually have the list of companies, but the point is, there is a dialog between the administration and companies already, and what we’re doing this afternoon really is trying to tap into that energy from the private sector and figure out who else we might be able to work with on these issues. So we’re at the beginning of the process, in my world.

[Woman] I think we have time for one more question.

[Karissa] Hi, I’m Karissa McDarren at World Radio Paris.

Hi.

[Karissa] Is there anyway to put a number on the international narcotics static trade? I know that, I think the top three are guns, counterfeiting and drugs. Would you place what you’re doing at the top in fighting this, or two, or three? Any way to know?

So, that is very difficult question. There was a really interesting report done. It’s been awhile, awhile now, but done by the UN Office on drugs and crime where they looked at global patterns of criminality, and the reality is that, sort of international, criminality is billions and billions of dollars a year. I think drugs are actually pretty significant piece of it. I can’t give you the specific numbers. We know that wildlife trafficking is huge. We know that trafficking in illicit gold and timber is quite large, but, you know all of these things taken together, regardless of how you break it out, really present a fundamental challenge to the things that we care about, so many of our partners care about. And the effort to improve the rule of law, and root out corruption, and do the things that position countries to be successful. So, you know we are very focused in places like, in the western hemisphere, but also around the world. Trying to help countries deal with the consequences of this. So it’s billions of dollars. We’re up against big fight, and it doesn’t really matter how you rack and stack them. It’s a question of dealing with the challenge that countries have. Some countries have enormous problems with wildlife trafficking. They don’t have significant problems with drugs. So for us it’s just about the tools that we can help countries build to take it on. Sorry I don’t have a number for you, but suffice to say, the countries that are working on this, know that their confronting a multi-billion dollar reality. That’s working against the things that we care about around the world.

Thank you.

Of course.

Oh, sure that’s fine.

[Reporter] You mentioned about the drugs coming from China, but is it more of problem by US, the consumer market in the States, or the pharmaceutical industries, are they the ones to address? Because no matter what you do, drug will come in from abroad.

So, as I said before, I think it’s very hard to say it’s this, or that, or one other thing. I think the drug issue is extraordinarily complicated. I think you must do evidence-based prevention, treatment and recovery programs, at the same time that you are working with countries that are the source or transit countries for these drugs, or producers right, and you have to do everything in between, I don’t think there is a simple answer to the question of how you get at this, and that’s our challenge. The good news is that I think over time, we’ve begun to build a lot of valuable partnerships and a lot of skills and capabilities that allow us to work with countries around the world. And we have done some of that through the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Narcotics Control Board, the Commission on Narcotic Drugs, so that you have a global framework, and you have tools on an international level to work on it, the bilateral work. And then there’s the work each of our countries does at home on dealing with the demand piece of it. And my personal view is that you have to do all of it, and you have to be consistent, and you have to be prepared to be agile, because the criminals are most assuredly that.

[Woman] So thank you so much, and this concludes the briefing. Thank you, assistant secretary Madison for coming, and we will post the transcript as soon as it’s available.

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