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Mexico’s president said Thursday that his country does not produce or consume fentanyl, despite enormous evidence to the contrary. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador appeared to depict the synthetic opioid epidemic largely as a U.S. problem, and said the United States should use family values to fight drug addiction. His statement came during a visit to Mexico by Liz Sherwood-Randall, the White House homeland security adviser, to discuss the fentanyl crisis. It also comes amid calls by some U.S. Republicans to use the U.S. military to attack drug labs in Mexico. (Stevenson, 3/9)

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador lashed out at U.S. Republican lawmakers who have proposed sending troops into Mexico, telling them that the United States should concentrate on curbing its rampant appetite for illegal drugs. “Why don’t you take care of your young people? Why don’t you take care of the serious problem of social decay? Why don’t [you] temper the constant increase in drug consumption?” López Obrador asked Thursday at his daily news conference. (Linthicum, 3/9)

The Nogales crossing is the front line of the government’s beleaguered effort to stem the flow of cheap fentanyl into the United States. The synthetic opioid is fueling the most lethal drug epidemic in U.S. history, and last year, Nogales surpassed San Diego to become the southern border’s primary gateway for fentanyl trafficking. (Miroff, 3/9)

The Kentucky House passed a bill to decriminalize fentanyl testing strips on Wednesday. House Bill 353 would exclude some testing equipment, like fentanyl strips, from being considered drug paraphernalia. (Sandor, 3/9)

Mississippi is on track to join a growing list of states banning a pill, dubbed "gas station heroin," which can cause withdrawal symptoms similar to that of opioids. The pills have been dubbed "gas station heroin" since the substance is readily available at convenience stores and online. (Rumpf, 3/9)

What drug users and people who work with them in Philadelphia talk about is the smell. The smell of rotting flesh from open infected wounds. Some users say they feel ashamed of the state of their bodies, but more feel a sense of urgency. They need help. The wounds are killing them. “It is absolutely horrible. That’s the reality, though,” said James Sherman, known as Sherm around Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, where he once used drugs and where he now tries to help those still on the streets.  (Reeve, Guff and Brunswick, 3/8)

A couple from the French island of Guadeloupe is suing the Airbnb vacation-home rental company and the owner of a South Florida property after the death of their 19-month-old daughter from a fentanyl overdose during a family vacation. ... The lawsuit alleges that the home was was not properly cleaned after being used to host a party in which fentanyl and other illicit drugs were present. (3/7)