As the US opioid crisis continues, politicians in Washington are blaming Mexico’s cartels. But what about Mexico itself? Our correspondent Will Grant says Fentanyl addiction was evident from the moment he arrived in the border town, Tijuana, to the moment he left, and death rates there are high.

Until recently Mexico’s president Andrés Manuel López Obrador denied there was a fentanyl usage problem in his country. This changed at the end of January when he announced that he was going to ask congress to adopt anti-fentanyl consumption legislation. But given the drug is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine and can quickly be fatal, has too much damage already been done in Tijuana?

The Global Story delivers insights from BBC experts around the world, with Katya Adler. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell The Global Story. Email us at theglobalstory@bbc.com You can also message us or leave a voice note on WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480.

Today’s episode of The Global Story was made by Bethan Ashmead Latham and Laurie Kalus. The technical producers were Matt Hewitt and Mike Regaard. The assistant editor is Sergi Forcada Freixas and the senior news editor is Jonathan Aspinwall.

''People will keep dying": The spread of fentanyl across the US Mexico border 22:23 Share

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''People will keep dying": The spread of fentanyl across the US Mexico border