“We were trying to understand why fentanyl overdose deaths, after rising rapidly for a decade in mid-2023 suddenly turned downward,” Peter Reuter, professor of public policy and criminology at the University of Maryland, College Park, told The Baltimore Sun. “We are reasonably sure that something has happened to the precursor chemical supply from China that was a significant cause of the downturn in fentanyl.”…
Nationally, all drug overdose deaths dropped from more than 111,000 in August 2023 to 69,000 in August 2025, according to Centers for Disease Control data.
The Trump administration has asked China and Mexico to limit supplies. I notice news reports that China has met commitment to buy U.S. soybeans. Any reported progress on fentanyl precursors. (Wikipedia fentanyl article tells what they are.)
Mexico may have potential to block precursors chemical imports. They recently transferred some drug people to the U.S. for trial.
Report implies we are making progress on fentanyl controls. Who should we thank?