- The Trump administration says tariffs in Mexico and Canada will curb Fentanil’s flow in the US
- A damage reduction expert warns that tariffs can increase overdoses by disrupting drug supply.
- Canada plans vengeful fees, aiming for goods from Trump’s political base.
President Donald Trump presented tariffs in Mexico and Canada, as part of an attempt to combat drug trafficking, but a damage reduction advocate says stopping regular drug flows could overdose.
Trump announced on February 1 that he planned to impose 25% tariffs in Mexico and Canada. Trump said at the time the tariffs were intended to hit drug and border policy, especially to stop Fentanil’s flow in the US
Trump stopped tariffs for 30 days on February 3 after the two countries agreed on tougher border control measures, but he still promised “reciprocal tariffs” for goods imported from any country levies fees in the US
In posts on social truth, Trump has claimed that “drugs are being poured into our country, mainly through Mexico, at levels that have never been seen before.”
Laura Guzman, the executive director of the National Harm Reduction Coalition, told Business Insider that Trump’s tariffs can make drug overdoses increase if they are successful in slowing the flow of illegal drugs in the country. The reduction in damage generally refers to policies and practices that aim to minimize the negative effects of health, social and legal drug abuse.
“The biggest fear I had when I saw negotiations to postpone tariffs, immediately, my reaction was, ‘This will not be good for people who are influenced by both warfare, but also this tired drug supply, “” Guzman told BI.
Guzman said that while slowing down the scale of Fentanil that enters the country is a good idea, there is still a large amount of fentanil that is produced inside the road that ends on the road. She said that breakdown of the drug flow can create a situation when the addicts are mixing medicines that they do not use normally, which can lead to health risks and deaths. She said drug mixing can lead to drug pollution, where people can take medicines with which they are not known or unaware they are taking.
“What happens is more dangerous, because then the mixtures, the type of mixtures that mix, puts people at risk not only overdose of opium but also increase the resulting sedation in death,” Guzman said.
Guzman said it is common for damage reduction workers to see rivets in overdose deaths in cities after local police make serious drugs.
“They make an intervention, they start arresting, they say how many Fentanil has confiscated, and we soon start seeing spikes of overdose deaths,” Guzman said.
Putting “all eggs in interference”
People who pass the anti-Fentanil campaign posters in Mexico. Yuri Cortez/AFP through Getty Images
It was also critical for Mexico, saying the government should do more to recognize Fentanil’s constant crisis that affects both countries. Guzman said there is a “denial” by the administration of President Mexican Claudia Sheinbaum of “Fentanil’s Flow from the Border”.
Sheinbaum said in a statement on February 3 that Mexico dismissed claims from the Trump administration that Mexico clashed with criminal organizations.
“If the United States Government and its agencies want to address Fentanil’s serious consumption in their home country, they can fight the sale of narcotics on the streets of their main cities, which they do not,” Sheinbaum said .
Naloxone, a drug used to return opioid overdose, is a controlled substance in Mexico, where it is considered a psychoactive drug. Guzman said the country’s refusal to recognize Naloxone as a life -saving medicine indicates that “I am laying all the eggs in the intervention and denies the fact that Fentanil is also living on the other side of the border.”
Although the Trump administration relies on Fentanyl traffic as a major reason for its new tariffs, they have sometimes struggled to protect it.
At the “meet with the NBC press” on February 2, Kristin Welker asked the security secretary of the homeland Kristi Noem why Canada was hit with more heavy tariffs than China.
“Why do the United States punish Canada, one of its closest allies, more than China, where does Fentanille springs?” Said Welker.
“We have sent a message this week that we will not only apply our southern border,” Noem said. “We will put additional resources on that northern border too. So Canada should come to the table.”
Customs and protection of US borders seized more than 21,000 pounds Fentanil on the Mexican border last year, according to the agency. The agency caught 43 pounds fentanil on the Canadian border.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced revenge tariffs if Trump’s tariffs come into force. Some charged goods target Trump’s political basis, covering items like orange in Florida and Bourbon Kentucky.
The White House did not immediately return a commentary request from Business Insider.