Senator Hassan Meets with DEA Agents to Discuss Carfentanil, Ongoing Efforts to Combat the Substance Misuse Crisis in New Hampshire

Senator Hassan Meets with DEA Agents to Discuss Carfentanil, Ongoing Efforts to Combat the Substance Misuse Crisis in New Hampshire

BEDFORD - Today, Senator Maggie Hassan visited the New Hampshire office of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), where she received a briefing from Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jon DeLena and other members of the DEA office in Bedford. The Senator received updates from agents on the front lines about what they are seeing on the ground, including the recent occurrence of carfentanil and the increase in the use of methamphetamine.

Agents also discussed how they use funding from the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program to partner with local police departments to investigate and arrest dealers and suppliers. Last week, it was reported that the White House is considering eliminating funding for the program.

"Our brave law enforcement officers are on the front lines of the heroin, fentanyl, and opioid - and increasingly meth - crisis in New Hampshire, risking their own lives to help protect and save their fellow Granite Staters," Senator Hassan said. "As we see the recent occurrence of carfentanil, which poses a deadly risk to users and anyone who comes in contact with the drug, we must continue working together at all levels of government to ensure that our first responders and law enforcement officers have the training and resources they need to safely and efficiently do their jobs. I will keep fighting to ensure that the law enforcement community, including the dedicated agents at the DEA, have the support they need as we work to strengthen treatment, prevention, recovery, and law enforcement efforts to combat this crisis."

Senator Hassan helped introduce the STOP Act, a bipartisan bill to help stop dangerous synthetic drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped through borders to drug traffickers in the United States. She is also a cosponsor of the bipartisan SALTS Act to help make it easier to prosecute the sale and distribution of synthetic substances.

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