ZitatA government-owned nuclear laboratory long plagued by scandals and security breaches is in trouble again for recklessly managing controlled substances, including enough opioids to kill more than 1,700 people. Other illicit narcotics mishandled by the taxpayer-funded compound’s staff include morphine, methamphetamine, codeine and cocaine. The drugs are routinely used for research at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the same facility where Judicial Watch exposed a Chinese Communist scientist that stole nuclear secrets two decades ago.
Located near Santa Fe, Los Alamos is among the world’s largest science institutions and the nation’s key nuclear weapons research facility. The massive lab is charged with developing technology to reduce global threats and ensure the safety, security and reliability of the U.S. nuclear deterrent. It also conducts work involving controlled substances to assist law enforcement agencies with drug traffickers that produce and distribute illicit narcotics. In a recent example, the lab researchers could not account for 3.5 grams of fentanyl, according to a federal audit that outlines the facility’s latest mishaps. The U.S. government’s National Institute on Drug Abuse has determined that “fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid analgesic that is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent.”
In the latest Los Alamos audit, the Department of Energy (DOE) Inspector General blasts the lab for losing such a large quantity of the deadly opioid. “In this instance, the surplus amount created an opportunity for the misuse or loss of a Schedule II narcotic that is increasingly being linked to drug overdose deaths in the United States,” the report states. “Based on this lethal dose amount, the loss or misuse of 3.5 grams of fentanyl due to an inventory error has the potential to cause 1,750 deaths.” The lab also violated federal laws and regulations by failing to properly keep track of the other controlled substances listed above. Investigators found that “Los Alamos possessed mislabeled procurement records, inaccurate inventories, and retained controlled substance inventories well beyond the conclusion of experiments.” The lab does not have the appropriate procedures or controls to monitor, track, account for and dispose of controlled substances, the agency watchdog concluded....