Johnson Highlights Report on the National Fentanyl Crisis

COLUMBUS - State Senator Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) today is calling attention to the release of a report detailing the Chinese Communist Party’s role in the national fentanyl crisis.

The United States House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), which is a congressional committee formed to investigate threats posed by the CCP to the United States, released the report April 16th.

“This report lays out the extensive research and proof available, but long-ignored, that the CCP is attempting to destroy our country by killing Americans with fentanyl,” said Johnson. “I continue to urge my colleagues in the Ohio Legislature, as well as other state legislatures and especially the federal government, to take action against this aggression and acts of unrestricted warfare.”

The Committee found that the People’s Republic of China (PRC), governed by the CCP, is “the ultimate geographic source of the fentanyl crisis.” Additionally, the report concluded that the PRC:

• Directly subsidizes the manufacturing and export of illicit fentanyl materials and other synthetic narcotics through tax rebates
• Gave monetary grants and awards to companies openly trafficking illicit fentanyl materials and other synthetic narcotics
• Holds ownership interest in several PRC companies tied to drug trafficking
• Fails to prosecute fentanyl and precursor manufacturers
• Allows the open sale of fentanyl precursors and other illicit materials on the extensively monitored and controlled PRC internet
• Censors content about domestic drug sales but leaves export-focused narcotics content untouched
• Strategically and economically benefits from the fentanyl crisis

This General Assembly, Senator Johnson has introduced several pieces of legislation exposing and protecting against threats from the Chinese Communist Party, as well as other foreign adversaries of the United States. Senate Resolution 240, which was adopted by the Senate last December, condemned the PRC for its role in the global drug trade. Other related legislation from Senator Johnson includes:

• Senate Resolution 241 – condemning the PRC for conducting unrestricted warfare
• Senate Resolution 242 – urging Congress to designate drug cartels as Foreign Terrorist Organizations
• Senate Resolution 251 – urging Congress to designate fentanyl a Weapon of Mass Destruction
• Senate Bill 226 – prohibiting foreign adversaries from purchasing Ohio farmland or land surrounding military installations and critical infrastructure

Read the report from the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party here.