Senate bill would enhance penalties for fentanyl distribution

Penalties for distributing the synthetic opioid fentanyl would be enhanced under a bill introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday, and the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) would be given new tools to intercept drug shipments from overseas.

The bill would lower the amount of fentanyl or fentanyl analogues required to trigger minimum sentencing guidelines. Twenty grams of a substance containing fentanyl or five grams of a substance containing a fentanyl analogue would trigger a minimum 10-year sentence. Two grams of fentanyl or 0.5 grams of a fentanyl analogue would trigger a minimum five-year sentence.

U.S. Sens. Tom Cotton (R-AK), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), John Kennedy (R-LA), Bill Cassidy, (R-LA), Dean Heller (R-NV), and Ben Sasse (R-NE) announced the introduction of the bill on Thursday. Graham noted that penalties for fentanyl trafficking could be enhanced more in the future, noting “that could include the death penalty if the fentanyl results in someone’s death.”

“Fentanyl is an incredibly powerful drug,” Kennedy said. “If you are trafficking this deadly drug, you ought to be punished to the full extent of the law. You aren’t going to motivate dealers and traffickers by pleading to their conscience. They know how deadly it is, and they just don’t care. Too many men and women have died as a result of fentanyl; it needs to stop. I am proud to be a part of this important effort.”

Cotton, meanwhile, noted that fentanyl killed more than 20,000 Americans last year and has been a driver of the nationwide opioid epidemic.

“But while the epidemic has spiraled, our drug laws have been stuck in the past,” Cotton said. “This bill will make sure when it comes to opioid distribution and trafficking, the punishment fits the crime.”