ICYMI: More Coverage of Senator Hassan's Efforts to Stop Fentanyl and Other Deadly Synthetic Drugs from Entering the Country
ICYMI: More Coverage of Senator Hassan's Efforts to Stop Fentanyl and Other Deadly Synthetic Drugs from Entering the Country
Click here to watch WMUR’s report on the STOP Act.
WASHINGTON - Last week, WMUR and the Union Leader covered the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, bipartisan legislation that Senator Maggie Hassan joined in introducing to help stop dangerous synthetic drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped through our borders to drug traffickers here in the United States.
WBZ radio also talked to Senator Hassan about China’s decision to add carfentanil and other opioids to its list of controlled substances, an important step in stemming the flow of illegal drugs from China into the United States. “We’re especially concerned about the import of fentanyl and fentanyl-like substances that often come from China, and it’s really important that we be able to track where these substances are coming from,” Senator Hassan said.
See below for excerpts from both stories:
WMUR:
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., is co-sponsoring legislation intended to stem the flow of deadly drugs pouring into the U.S. through the postal service.
Officials said that all but seven of the 434 opiod-related deaths in New Hampshire last year could be traced to some form of fentanyl. The ingredients for the drug are often sent from overseas through the mail, according to former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
... In response to the problem, Hassan is a co-sponsor of the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act. The STOP Act would close a screening loophole inside the postal service.
"And we know that the component parts of fentanyl often enter this country though the U.S. mail, so this is a bipartisan way to make sure we have the information we need to stop fentanyl from coming into the country," Hassan said.
According to the postal service, nearly a half-billion packages are sent into the country from overseas each year, which makes screening for dangerous substances challenging and difficult.
U.S. Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., joined a bipartisan group of senators with legislation designed to close off the pipeline that has allowed deadly fentanyl and other drugs to be shipped by mail to drug traffickers in the United States.
... Hassan joined this effort to try to jump-start legislation that was first introduced late last Congress before she was elected, but the bill never moved.
The measure would require packages shipped into the U.S. to provide advanced electronic data that indicates who is sending the package, where it is coming from and what the package contains.
“The spread of fentanyl on our streets is exacerbating our heroin and opioid crisis, killing people faster with smaller amounts, and the importation of fentanyl through the postal system is making our efforts to combat this crisis more difficult,” Hassan said in a statement.
“More than 70 percent of confirmed New Hampshire drug deaths in 2016 involved fentanyl, and increasing the oversight of packages from countries where we know fentanyl is coming from via the mail is essential to stemming the tide of this epidemic. By requiring the U.S. Postal Service to meet the same standards as private companies when accepting international packages, we can help prevent these illegal drugs from crossing our borders. I hope our colleagues will work with us to pass this legislation without delay and work with the Postal Service and other agencies to effectively implement the statute,” Hassan said.
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