In an attempt to show their constituents how serious they take America’s rising opioid epidemic, three Republican senators are going all out on what they call “the next big opioid bill” in Congress.
The new initiative is being led by Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), along with fellow Republicans Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.). The goal of this trio is simple: America must do all it can under its powers to restrict two powerful and dangerous opioids – fentanyl and carfentanil, both of which are scores of times more powerful than heroin – from entering US borders.
As The Hill reports, fentanyl specifically has been linked to thousands of recent overdose deaths in America, including that of the late music icon Prince.
Both drugs have been linked to distributors in Chin and India, according to The Hill, and the Drug Enforcement Agency has even found evidence that some traffickers are using US Mail to ship their supplies.
Both Portman, left, and Ayotte, right, have been leading voices in the Senate in the fight against opioid addiction. | Photo: AP
The new legislation, dubbed the “Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act” – or STOP – would “tighten standards for foreign postal services, requiring the same kinds of electronic data that private carriers like UPS and FedEx must already provide,” according to The Hill.
Ayotte, for her part, has been championing anti-opioid causes of late, given how deeply her home state of New Hampshire has been ravaged by the drugs.
“I welcome today’s announcement,” she said in a statement related to expanding community-based anti-opioid programs. “If we can teach our children early-on the dangers of substance use – including heroin and fentanyl – then we can make real change at the local level and continue working to save lives.”
Head over to The Hill for the full story.
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