Republican senators plan to announce legislation next week to increase the penalties on distributors that ship illicit fentanyl, an opioid that is 50 times more potent than heroin.
The legislation comes after a congressional probe that found it was easy to buy illegally made fentanyl online, with most illegal shipments coming from China. Overdoses from fentanyl have spiked in recent years as its potency and availability have sparked a massive increase in use.
Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Tom Cotton of Arkansas intend to release the legislation next week. The bill would reduce the amount of fentanyl required for mandatory sentencing minimums to apply in distribution cases, a statement said.
The bill also seeks to give the U.S. Postal Service new resources to better track and stop fentanyl shipments. Drug distributors mainly use the Postal Service because shipments are rarely seized, the congressional probe found.
The legislation comes as the White House is working on a plan to tackle the opioid crisis that is expected to include applying the death penalty to dealers.
“Fentanyl has had a devastating impact on our country,” Cotton said. “More than 20,000 Americans were killed by fentanyl last year, and overall drug deaths have nearly doubled in the past decade. It’s past time the punishment matched the crime when it comes to opioid distribution and trafficking.”
