The House Judiciary Committee approved legislation last week that U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) introduced to update decades-old controlled substances laws in light of powerful new synthetic drugs being imported from foreign countries.
The Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues Act of 2017, H.R. 2851, would establish a new drug schedule under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) for synthetic drugs called “Schedule A.” Variations, or analogues, of 13 known synthetic drugs would be immediately added to the new schedule, and the attorney general would be able to add new analogues that emerge to the list in less than 30 days.
“In Central New York and communities nationwide, synthetic opioid use is on the rise and continues to take innocent lives,” Katko said. “The Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetics Analogues Act will help stop the unlawful importation and distribution of these dangerous substances and give law enforcement the effective tools they need to keep our communities safe.”
Speaking in support of Katko’s bill, U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, said the drug epidemic plaguing the United States has destroyed lives, families and communities.
“It affects rural and urban areas and grandparents, parents and kids alike,” Goodlatte said. “While Congress has taken action to combat the opioid epidemic through the historic Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act, it’s clear that we need more tools to combat the ever-growing problem of synthetic drug abuse.”
More than 52,000 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2015; nearly 20 percent of those overdose deaths were linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Foreign manufacturers, however, change the molecular structure of synthetic drugs, creating analogues, when the federal government bans them.
“Criminals can figure out a way to change one molecule in a drug, but the resulting drug is just as dangerous, and often even more so,” Goodlatte said. “This bill closes this dangerous loophole by ensuring our laws keep pace with the creation of new, chemically-altered drugs and by providing law enforcement with the tools needed to keep these drugs off of our streets.”
Katko’s bill would also hand down stiffer penalties for foreign manufacturers and importers of synthetic drugs using a multi-step sentencing process that incorporates existing federal guidelines.