Dialoguepk

25 June 2020 Author: Pascal Tanguay, Bangkok In May 2020, authorities in Myanmar seized a whopping  3700 litres of liquid fentanyl  — equivalent to about 30 bathtubs’ worth — alongside other drugs, precursors and weaponry. The lethal drug is increasingly being found cut into common illicit substances as the opioid epidemic rages in North America and Europe.  50 to 100 times  more potent than morphine, its growing presence in Asian illicit drug markets will likely prove disastrous. In 2017, the opioid epidemic claimed the lives of more than  70,000 Americans  and close to  4000 Canadians . Opioid overdose is the leading cause of unintentional injury and death in the United States.  North America  accounts for around a quarter of all opioid users worldwide and just below 10 per cent of all opiate users,  a subset of opioid users , globally. Estimates place the number of people who  inject drugs  (generally opioids) at around 2.5 million across North America, or about 16 pe