Editing Fentanyl (section)

=== Legal status ===
Effective from 1 May 2019, China officially classified all forms of fentanyl as controlled narcotics.<ref>{{Cite web |title= Fentanyl Flow to the United States | date = January 2020 | id = DEA-DCT-DIR-008-20 | work = DEA Intelligence Report | publisher = U.S. Drug Enforcement Division |url= https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/DEA_GOV_DIR-008-20%20Fentanyl%20Flow%20in%20the%20United%20States_0.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250306072958/https://www.dea.gov/sites/default/files/2020-03/DEA_GOV_DIR-008-20%20Fentanyl%20Flow%20in%20the%20United%20States_0.pdf |archive-date= 6 March 2025 |access-date=10 March 2025 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the UK, fentanyl is classified as a controlled Class A drug under the [[Misuse of Drugs Act 1971]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/38/schedule/2|title=Misuse of Drugs Act 1971|access-date=22 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114181829/http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1971/38/schedule/2|archive-date=14 November 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the Netherlands, fentanyl is a List I substance of the [[Opium Law]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Opiumwet |trans-title=Opium Act |url=https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0001941/2009-07-01#BijlageI |website=Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken en Koninkrijksrelaties |trans-website=Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations |access-date=19 January 2023 |language=nl |archive-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230119041050/https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0001941/2009-07-01#BijlageI |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the US, fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance per the [[Controlled Substances Act]]. Distributors of Abstral are required to implement an FDA-approved [[Specialty drugs#Risk evaluation and mitigation strategies (REMS)|risk evaluation and mitigation strategy]] (REMS) program.<ref name="relayhealth_2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.relayhealth.com/news-and-events/press/ProStrakan-Chooses-RelayHealth-for-Approved-Abstral-REMS-Program-.html#sthash.GRwKE7Wc.dpuf |title=RelayHealth's pharmacy connectivity network and reach, aligned with McKesson Specialty Care Solutions' REMS expertise, expands cancer patients' access to pain therapy |date=20 January 2011 |access-date=5 November 2015 |location=Atlanta |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160129072751/http://www.relayhealth.com/news-and-events/press/ProStrakan-Chooses-RelayHealth-for-Approved-Abstral-REMS-Program-.html#sthash.GRwKE7Wc.dpuf |archive-date=29 January 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="pharmaceuticalcommerce">{{cite news | vauthors = Shelley S |date=22 April 2011 |title=With a few stumbles, REMS begins to hit its atride |website=Pharmaceutical Commerce |url=http://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/brand_communications?articleid=2389%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank |access-date=5 November 2015 | url-status=dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160129174603/http://www.pharmaceuticalcommerce.com/brand_communications?articleid=2389%22%20%5Ct%20%22_blank |archive-date=29 January 2016 }}</ref> In order to curb misuse, many health insurers have begun to require [[Managed care|precertification and/or quantity limits]] for Actiq prescriptions.<ref>{{cite web | title = Procedures, programs and drugs that require precertification: Participating provider precertification list | url = https://www.aetna.com/content/dam/aetna/pdfs/health-care-professionals/2021-precert-list-july.pdf | publisher = Aetna Inc. | access-date = 4 July 2021 | archive-date = 9 July 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183129/https://www.aetna.com/content/dam/aetna/pdfs/health-care-professionals/2021-precert-list-july.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Notice regarding precertification requirement | date = 5 November 2007 | publisher = BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona | url = http://www.azblue.com/pdfs/medications/pharmacy/QlList.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080828155557/http://www.azblue.com/pdfs/medications/pharmacy/QlList.pdf | archive-date = 28 August 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | title = Medications requiring precertification | publisher = Oxford Health Plans | url = https://www.oxhp.com/druglist/drug_precert_list.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061015232701/https://www.oxhp.com/druglist/drug_precert_list.html | archive-date=15 October 2006}}</ref>

In Canada, fentanyl is considered a schedule{{nbsp}}I drug as listed in Canada's [[Controlled Drugs and Substances Act]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Canada's Controlled Drugs and Substances Act |website=Canada Justice Laws Website |url=http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-38.8/page-12.html#h-34 |access-date=8 September 2018 |archive-date=28 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180928212208/http://laws.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-38.8/page-12.html#h-34 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Estonia]] is known to have been home to the world's longest documented fentanyl epidemic, especially following the [[Taliban]] ban on opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Naylor A | date = 6 January 2020 | title = What we can learn from a tiny Baltic country's two-decade Fentanyl crisis | website = Vice | url = https://www.vice.com/en/article/estonia-fentanyl-crisis-what-says-about-us/ | access-date = 31 January 2021 | archive-date = 8 March 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210308162515/https://www.vice.com/en/article/k7ea93/estonia-fentanyl-crisis-what-says-about-us | url-status = live }}</ref>

A 2018 report by ''[[The Guardian]]'' indicated that many major drug suppliers on the [[dark web]] have voluntarily banned the trafficking of fentanyl.<ref>{{cite news |vauthors=Townsend M |date=1 December 2018 |title=Dark web dealers voluntarily ban deadly fentanyl |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/dec/01/dark-web-dealers-voluntary-ban-deadly-fentanyl |access-date=3 December 2018 |archive-date=2 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202232730/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/dec/01/dark-web-dealers-voluntary-ban-deadly-fentanyl |url-status=live }}</ref>

The fentanyl epidemic has erupted in a highly acrimonious dispute between the U.S. and Mexican governments. While U.S. officials blame the flood of fentanyl crossing the border primarily on Mexican crime groups, then-President [[Andrés Manuel López Obrador]] insisted that the main source of this synthetic drug is [[Asia]]. He stated that the crisis of a lack of family values in the United States drives people to use the drug.<ref>{{cite news |title=As fentanyl crisis grows, U.S.-Mexico divide deepens |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/29/mexico-us-fentanyl/ |access-date=1 May 2023 |archive-date=29 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230429142455/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/04/29/mexico-us-fentanyl/ |url-status=live }}</ref>