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
Original source can be found here.
