Tenney Co-Sponsored Bill to Combat Our Nation’s Synthetic Drug Epidemic
Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-22) announced the passage of H.R. 2851, the Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act. The bill updates the Controlled Substances Act to provide swifter action to stop the unlawful importation and distribution of synthetic drugs and gives law enforcement effective tools to help keep our communities safe. Supporters of H.R. 2851 include the National Association of Police Organizations, the National Fraternal Order of Police, the National District Attorneys Association, and the American College of Emergency Physicians.
“The drug epidemic plaguing our communities is destroying the lives of families across the United States. It’s clear that we need more tools to combat the ever-growing problem of synthetic drug abuse. These chemically-altered drugs can be just as dangerous as and often deadlier than the original drug,” said Congresswoman Claudia Tenney, a member of the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force. “The SITSA Act ensures our laws are kept up to pace with the creation of new, chemically-altered drugs. It also prevents synthetic drugs to be sold over the counter, which many times makes them seem less harmful. The passage of this bipartisan bill is a major step to address this opioid crisis.
Background:
The CSA, which was signed into law over 40 years ago, was designed to protect the public from the dangers associated with drugs and drug use. However, the CSA was not designed to handle the magnitude and speed with which these new psychoactive substances have emerged in our communities. It currently takes three years to schedule a drug, but criminals can skirt the law by quickly changing one molecule in a drug and get it to U.S. streets.
Instead of taking three years to bring a drug under control, SITSA gives the attorney general the power to quickly and temporarily schedule a new dangerous drug in a matter of months when it is virtually identical to a currently scheduled drug. It will get these deadly substances out of the hands of drug traffickers and off the streets.