Sen. Portman presses for permanent criminalization of Fentanyl-related substances

As the U.S. opioid epidemic continues, and with a criminalization order against fentanyl-related substances set to expire, U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) took to the Senate floor this week urging legislation to permanently schedule the drugs.

The existing scheduling order against fentanyl — which authorizes criminal charges against individuals who manufacture, distribute or handle fentanyl-related substances — is set to expire on Feb. 6, 2020. It has been in effect since February 2018, when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued the order for a crackdown.

In turn, Portman attempted to create the FIGHT Fentanyl Act last year, which would have made that crackdown permanent. The legislation has been backed by all state and territorial Attorneys General.

“In my home state of Ohio, we’ve been on the front lines of this crisis for years,” Portman said. “Opioids, in particular, have taken a heavy toll in our communities. In fact, in 2017, our opioid overdose rate in Ohio was almost three times the national average, with nearly a dozen Ohioans dying from these dangerous drugs every single day, making it the number one cause of death in Ohio, surpassing car accidents. Since 2017 we’ve begun to make progress finally, to be able to turn the tide on opioids.”

In 2018, Portman noted, a decade of increasing overdose deaths finally turned around with a 22 percent reduction in Ohio–the largest decrease in the nation. Though the figures are still too high, he said, it represents progress, but progress that could be lost by resting on laurels. Crystal meth is becoming more of a problem, and the rise of fentanyl abuse has surpassed forebears like heroin and prescription drugs. Fentanyl was responsible for 40 percent of the 72,000 drug-related deaths recorded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2017.

In Portman’s estimation, the DEA scheduling of fentanyl was the right call.

“Thanks to that designation, our law enforcement officials have been able to better protect our communities by seizing and destroying large amounts of these fentanyl-related substances. These are the analogues of fentanyl. So that’s good. Unfortunately, due to the federal law, the DEA was only able to make these dangerous substances illegal on a temporary basis. So think about that. You have this deadly drug, 50 times more powerful than heroin. We were able back in 2018 to finally make not just fentanyl, but all of its analogues, the fentanyl-related substances, illegal. Law enforcement was using that to begin to push back, and now we find that it was only temporary.”

While noting the difficulty of getting such legislation through while something as divisive as impeachment is being considered, Portman said that the scheduling of fentanyl could not be allowed to expire. Whether through his legislation or others’, he did not care, as long as it led to action.