WASHINGTON – A bill being pushed by both parties in both houses of Congress aims to stop the illegal production and trafficking of fentanyl by focusing on the machines used to make the pills.
The bills to criminalize abused substances or POURThe law would redefine the criminal prosecution of counterfeit drugs using a pill press. Counterfeiting drugs is already illegal, as in Controlled Substances Act However, the law does not provide for any punishment.
According to CAST, it would be illegal to possess a pill press with the intent to manufacture Schedule I or II drugs, a crime punishable for up to 20 years.
CAST was introduced introduced in the House of Representatives in October 2019 by Representatives Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat from Virginia, and David Kustoff, a Republican from Tennessee, and re-introduced in March 2023.
The bill received a boost earlier this month when Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Maggie Hassan (DN.H.) introduced it in the upper chamber.
Overdoses and deaths
The bill specifically targets the production and distribution of opioids, especially fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid with incredibly high potency, about 100 times stronger than morphine. For this reason, it is often mixed with other drugs to escalate potency, sometimes in lethal doses.
Synthetic opioids are the leading cause of opioid overdoses. Between 2020 and 2021, there were deaths related to synthetic opioids such as illegally manufactured fentanyl rose by 55%, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The number of deaths from opioid and other drug poisonings per 100,000 inhabitants is highest in West Virginia, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Lawmakers attribute this escalate in fentanyl-related deaths to the counterfeit market and drug trafficking.
“The overdose crisis and the growing fentanyl scourge are undoubtedly exacerbated by the increasing use of illegal pill presses to produce counterfeit drugs,” Spanberger said in a statement about her bill.
“By increasing penalties for drug traffickers who use illegal pill presses to manufacture drugs, our bipartisan legislation would give our law enforcement the power to crack down on these criminals and prevent dangerous substances – like fentanyl – from being pressed into illegal pills and sold on our streets.”
Much of the fentanyl sold illegally in the United States contains at least a potentially lethal dose of 2 mg of fentanyl. A DEA study found that 42% of pills tested contained that amount or more, with some containing as much as 5.1 mg.
Lawmakers said they wanted to ensure law enforcement had the resources necessary to stop the production and sale of these drugs.
“Increasing penalties for the criminals who create these counterfeit drugs can help take them off the market,” Hassan said in a statement. “This bipartisan legislation will help ensure that law enforcement has the tools they need to go after criminals who create counterfeit drugs.”
According to the DEA, it’s possible for someone to take a pill without knowing it contains fentanyl because lethal doses of fentanyl are often mixed with other drugs. Cassidy said the CAST Act could prevent those deaths.
“No one should have to worry about whether their medications are counterfeit or laced with fentanyl,” he said.
