U.S. House passes bill aimed at combatting synthetic drug trafficking

The U.S House of Representatives recently passed a bill its sponsors said is aimed at increasing “global cooperation in the fight against synthetic drug trafficking.”

The Fighting Emerging Narcotics Through Additional Nations to Yield Lasting (FENTANYL) Results Act passed the House unanimously and now moves to the Senate for further consideration.

The bill funds two U.S. State Department programs that will work with foreign countries to stem the flow of synthetic drug trafficking. That includes the creation of a program that would help countries improve forensic detection capabilities, focusing on identifying and tracking synthetic drugs and new psychoactive substances, according to a summary of the legislation.

Priority will be given to assisting countries that will have the most impact in reducing illicit use of synthetic drugs in the U.S., according to the legislation. If the legislation is ultimately signed into law, the program will received $4 million in annual funding from 2021 to 2025.

The other program is an international exchange program for drug demand reduction experts. That program would receive $1 million in annual funding from 2021 to 2025, according to the legislation.

The legislation also requires the State Department to add a new section to its Narcotics Control Strategy Report that would assess countries “likely involved in the manufacture, production, or transshipment of synthetic opioids, including fentanyl and fentanyl analogues.”

The bill also requires the U.S. Secretary of State to prioritize efforts to combat the international flow of fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, other synthetic narcotics.

Fentanyl contributed to a record 76.2 percent of Ohio’s drug overdose deaths in 2019, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health. Fentanyl has contributed more than 70 percent of the state’s overdose deaths each year since 2017.

“We can and must attack this crisis from every angle and this bipartisan legislation will help us do just that,” said U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, who was a co-sponsor of the bill. “I’m proud to be a cosponsor of the FENTANYL Results Act and look forward to seeing it become law so that we can continue to improve global cooperation in the fight against synthetic drug trafficking.”