Under pressure from US, designer drug U-47700 and three others added to China’s list of controlled substances
China will ban a designer drug called U-47700 and three others, following US pressure to do more to control synthetic opioids blamed for fast-rising overdose deaths in the United States, anti-drugs officials said in Beijing on Monday. In China, U-47700 has until now been a legal alternative to fentanyl and potent derivatives like carfentanil. Its usage has been growing among US opioid addicts. Last year, the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) listed U-47700 in the category of the most dangerous drugs it regulates, saying it was associated with dozens of fatalities, mostly in New York and North Carolina. Some of the pills taken from Prince’s estate after the musician’s overdose death last year contained U-47700. The DEA has long said that China was the top source country for synthetic opioids like fentanyl and its precursors, assertions Beijing has said lacked firm evidence. Still, the two countries have deepened cooperation as the US opioid epidemic intensifies. Deng Ming, deputy director of the National Narcotics Control Commission, said at a press briefing that U-47700 and three other synthetic drugs – MT-45, PMMA and 4,4’ -DMAR – would be added to China’s list of controlled substances as of July 1.
