Stopping Fentanyl

Straight Talk with Sam

Dear Friend,

Our border has been out of control, and our communities are being ravaged by the effects. Thankfully, President Trump has taken numerous actions to rein it in, curbing the illegal immigrants and illicit drugs that have been allowed to flow freely. Yet, our law enforcement agents will soon lose the ability to go after fentanyl-related substances if Congress doesn't act.

Fentanyl has been used by doctors for years to help patients deal with pain. However, drug dealers and street chemists have illegally manufactured slightly different chemical variations of the drug, known as fentanyl analogs. The country responsible for many of the chemicals used to make it? China. They know exactly what they are doing to our country with it. Illicit fentanyl is now the leading cause of death of 18-45-year-olds in the United States. Many of our friends, family, and neighbors can tell a story of a loved one they've lost to the drug.

To give you an idea of how powerful it can be, if you look at a penny, a lethal dose of synthetic fentanyl can fit in the ear of President Lincoln. It only takes a few milligrams to kill someone. It's no surprise then that, according to the CDC, nearly 7 in 10 of the drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2023 were due to illegally manufactured fentanyl.

Last year alone, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized over 55 million fentanyl pills and 7,800 pounds of fentanyl. Imagine the further devastation it could have caused if left on the street. Yet, fentanyl analogs will soon lose their classification as a Schedule I drug, making it far more difficult to get it off the street.

That's why this week the House passed the HALT Fentanyl Act. The bill makes fentanyl analogs a permanent Schedule I drug. That means if somebody sells an altered version of fentanyl, it's treated the same as any other Schedule I drug. Our bill makes it permanently illegal, giving border patrol and law enforcement the ability to arrest fentanyl traffickers.

To be clear, our bill doesn't affect the pain-relieving fentanyl that doctors prescribe. When used appropriately, it's an effective medication. It's when it is manipulated and sold on the street that it becomes a problem.

Illicit fentanyl has devastated families and our country. We've got to do everything we can to put an end to it. Cracking down on countries that push it into the United States and ensuring that our law enforcement agents can aggressively target traffickers is critical, not only for the health of our communities but also for our national security.

Sincerely,

Sam Graves