Bipartisan Bill Cosponsored by Senator Hassan to Help Prevent Opioid Trafficking Becomes Law

WASHINGTON – The bipartisan DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act, which Senator Maggie Hassan cosponsored, is now law. The bill will ensure that personnel at the Department of Homeland Security have the tools that they need to more easily detect synthetic opioids like fentanyl, which are contributing to the devastating substance misuse crisis in New Hampshire and across the country.

“As the substance misuse crisis continues to devastate Granite State families, this bipartisan law will strengthen the Department of Homeland Security’s ability to disrupt the flow of illegal opioids into our country,” said Senator Hassan. “As a member of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, I will continue to partner with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to strengthen efforts to keep our communities safe."

The bipartisan DHS Opioid Detection Resilience Act, introduced by Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV) and John Cornyn (R-TX), would require the Department of Homeland Security to implement a strategy to ensure its chemical screening equipment can detect synthetic opioids with purity levels of 10 percent or less. This bipartisan legislation would also require that the Department develop a database to track newly identified synthetic opioids crossing the country’s borders. 

Senators Hassan and Cornyn recently called for the Department of Justice and FBI to provide more details on efforts to combat illegal drug trafficking on the dark web and prioritize prosecution of individuals who access the dark web for the anonymous distribution of illegal drugs. Last year, Senator Hassan visited China where she met with government officials to discuss improving efforts to combat fentanyl trafficking from China into the United States. Senator Hassan also successfully worked to help pass the bipartisan International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology (INTERDICT) Act, that is now law, that helps prevent fentanyl from crossing the border by equipping border patrol agents with high-tech screening devices to help detect and intercept fentanyl and other illegal synthetic opioids. Additionally, the Senator cosponsored the bipartisan Providing Officers with Electronic Resources (POWER) Act that would establish a grant program to give state and local law enforcement access to similar cutting-edge screening technology. 

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