U.S. Rep. John Katko (R-NY) introduced a bipartisan bill on Monday to address the nation’s synthetic drug overdose epidemic, mainly through updating the Controlled Substances Act and outlawing certain synthetic opioids that have been identified as a threat to public health.
“Just a few weeks back, we saw a record surge in synthetic drug overdoses in Syracuse. Sadly, this has become all too commonplace in our community,” Katko said.
Under the Stop the Importation and Trafficking of Synthetic Analogues (SITSA) Act, the attorney general would be able to add synthetic analogues of drugs like heroin, LSD, marijuana and ecstasy to the Controlled Substances Act’s new “schedule A” on a temporary or permanent basis. That would enable researchers to gather information about new substances.
Katko introduced the bill with U.S. Reps. Kathleen Rice (D-NY), Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Trey Gowdy (R-SC), the chair of the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The bill would also add 13 synthetic opioids that have been identified by the Drug Enforcement Agency as immediate threats to public health to the list of banned substances under the Controlled Substances Act.
“The legislation I’ve introduced will help stop the unlawful importation and distribution of synthetic drugs and give our law enforcement the effective tools they need to keep our community safe,” Katko said.
Monika Taylor, the director of behavioral health for Crouse Hospital in Syracuse, joined local public health and law enforcement officials in applauding Katko’s introduction of SITSA.
“This legislation supports the multi-pronged approach needed to successfully address this current epidemic by reducing the supply of lethal substances in our communities, thus reducing the number of new cases of opioid addiction and preventing overdose deaths attributed to synthetic drugs that are as much as 100 times more potent than morphine,” Taylor said.
SITSA would also streamline the sentencing guidelines for synthetic drug trafficking in federal courts, and it would make false labeling of controlled substance analogues a criminal offense.