WASHINGTON – The
nation’s leading law enforcement groups are calling on Congress to extend a
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) authority that allows the rapid
scheduling of deadly synthetic substances responsible for hundreds of thousands
of overdose deaths throughout the opioid epidemic. The DEA order, which expires
in May, has been instrumental in helping law enforcement keep pace with rapidly
evolving substances designed to mimic deadly fentanyl while skirting U.S. laws.
The
order has led to a significant decrease in the flow of fentanyl analogues from
China and a 50 percent reduction in encounters by law enforcement, according to
the Justice Department.
“In
the absence of the classwide order, law enforcement would likely face a surge
of new, rapidly-emerging fentanyl-related substances as they did prior to the
classwide scheduling order …,” a group of law enforcement organizations wrote
in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Ranking
Member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). “These fentanyl-related substances would have
to be scheduled on a substance-by-substance basis, which can take up to three
years when previously scheduled under emergency authority. This reactive
posture would amount to a game of whack-a-mole between law enforcement and
transnational criminal organizations (TCOs). Meanwhile, fentanyl-related
deaths, including from polysubstance use, would increase.”
“Several
bills have been introduced to address the expiration of this scheduling, but as
this deadline draws near it is vital that the DEA’s authority be extended to
allow Congress time to consider a more permanent solution,” the Fraternal Order
of Police said in a letter to Durbin and Grassley.
The
letter from the Fraternal Order of Police is available
HERE.
The
letter from various law enforcement groups is available
HERE.
It’s cosigned by representatives from:
Community
Anti-Drug Coalitions of America
Federal
Law Enforcement Officers Association
International
Association of Chiefs of Police
Major
Cities Chiefs Association
Major
County Sheriffs of America
National
Association of Police Organizations
National
District Attorneys Association
National
Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition
National
Sheriffs’ Association
Sergeants
Benevolent Association, NYPD
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