Fentanyl Crisis and the FEND Off Fentanyl Act

On April 25^th of 2023, the leaders of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs introduced a bipartisan bill regarding the current drug crisis occurring in the United States. This bill is called the FEND (Fentanyl Eradication and Narcotics Deterrence) Off Fentanyl Act. The bill, from what I have gathered, is aimed at stopping the flow of income that drug traffickers get from smuggling the deadly drug into the United States. It enhances current U.S law in order for U.S government officials to be better equipped at disrupting the fentanyl supply chain and penalizing those who are trafficking the drug. The bill will also ensure the sanctions on the money laundering that makes the drug trade possible. 

 For those unaware of the effects of the crisis fentanyl has caused, in 2021 over 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses and over 60% of those overdose deaths were caused by fentanyl. In 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration (D.E.A) seized over 375 million deadly doses of fentanyl, which in theory is enough to supply a deadly dose to every person in the U.S. Earlier this year, there was a senate hearing regarding the bill and further action that could be taken in order to stop the devastating effects of this drug. It gained more popularity because of certain people speaking out against the drug, and in support of the bill while being televised. 

My personal thoughts on the fentanyl crisis in the U.S is that we need to be doing everything we can in order to stop it. I think that the FEND Off Fentanyl Act is a great first step in order to achieve this. However, I believe there are more steps that will need to be taken to get to a point where we can consider ourselves actively fighting the fentanyl crisis. I encourage students to read up on the drug and just how harmful it is, not only for those coming into contact with the substance, but for our country as a whole. 

Sources

Domestic and International Dimensions of the U.S. Fentanyl Crisis - United States Department of State

Banking Committee Introduces Bipartisan Bill to Address the Fentanyl Crisis | United States Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs (senate.gov) 

Senator Brown chaired a hearing on this act back on January 11th of 2024. It's over two hours long, but you can get a good sense of what the government is hoping to achieve with this act. The three witnesses were Jason "Helly Roll" DeFord, (artist), Patrick Yoes (national president of the Fraternal Order of Police) and Christopher J. Urben (U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration). Senator Tim Scott said during the hearings that preliminary CDC reports on 2022 suggested that 75,000 Americans were killed by fentanyl that year. 

As of late March, the committee had not voted on this, and so it hasn't gone to the Senate floor for a vote, and the House hasn't considered it. However, it has some overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate, and hopefully the House will pass this. 

The bill seems to demand some reporting on money laundering in trade with Mexico and China. It seems mainly to be a bill going after suppliers and banks that help suppliers legitimate their profits. This reminds me of the old George Carlin bit from about thirty years ago. 

There are many sources with information about fentanyl, such as the Drug Policy Alliance,  the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

For ending drug abuse and addiction, I think the key is prevention and treatment, but it's harder to get bipartisan consensus on prevention and treatment laws. Attacking those who profit from dangerous drug supplies won’t hurt, and it’s easier to get agreement on such policies. To quote Edward T. Devine (1867-1948), “seek out and strike effectively at those organized forces of evil, at those particular causes of dependence and intolerable living conditions which are beyond the control of individuals whom they injure and whom they too often destroy” and to paraphrase him, ending illegal drug trade and addiction would be easier than it is “if there were not strong pecuniary interests at stake.”  That is to say, the corrupt bankers and politicians (especially in Mexico and China) have lots of financial gain, and are organized to perpetuate the flow of drugs (and their financial gain).