U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury co-sponsored legislation intended to curb fentanyl distribution in the U.S. by stopping illegal pill presses.
House members introduced the Stop the Opioid Pill Presser and Fentanyl Act, or STOPP Fentanyl Act, on Sept. 23.
Stansbury held a press conference in Washington, D.C. to discuss the legislation.
“Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin and in 2023 more than 70,000 people across this country died because of it directly, but that does not even account for the thousands of people who died due to drug related accidents, to killings and to other activities associated with this epidemic,” Stansbury, a Democrat representing New Mexico’s 1st Congressional District said. “That means there were 70,000 funerals in America last year because the drug cartels and drug dealers who are moving these products into our communities have not been stopped.”
Stansbury told the story about how in 2019 she got the call that someone she knew had died from a fentanyl overdose.
“Sadly, it was not the last,” she said.
The Drug Enforcement Administration issued its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment this May.
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The report is the DEA’s assessment of illicit drug threats and trafficking trends threatening the U.S.
“China-based chemical suppliers are the main source of the chemicals used in the production of illicit fentanyl. The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels manufacture fentanyl in clandestine labs they oversee in Mexico, in both powder form and pressed into fake pills, and traffic it into the United States through any of the many entry points they control,” the report states.
The goal of the STOPP Fentanyl Act is to disrupt these global networks and the “supply chain and protect Americans and the people in our communities who are dying from this epidemic,” Stansbury said.
“It is crucial that we put this tool in place, just as we are dealing with the public health crisis back home in New Mexico,” she said. “This will give our law enforcement another tool to go after the cartels, to go after the drug dealers to get the fentanyl off the street, and we will work with our public health officials every day to make sure that we are saving lives and helping people on their path to recovery.”
Stansbury introduced an amendment to the Office of National Drug Control reauthorization legislation last week that calls for the ONDCP to issue a report about their work and strategies to track and curb the use of illicit pill presses.
The amendment passed the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability with bipartisan support and could next be heard on the House floor.
“We must stop these fake prescription pills from coming into our communities. We must stop them from killing our friends, family and children, and we must make sure that we get this legislation across the finish line,” Stansbury said.
