U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) recently asked that the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) make more information available about how guidelines for the safe handling of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids by police officers and first responders were developed.
The DEA released new guidelines on the safe handling of synthetic drugs by emergency responders in response to officers suffering overdoses after accidentally coming into contact with powerful narcotics like fentanyl.
In a letter to acting DEA Administrator Chuck Rosenberg, Portman and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) requested the release of additional information about how safety guidelines were developed, related information about threats to law enforcers and statistical trends on accidental overdoses.
“These lethal substances also present particular risks for the local law enforcement officers and first responders who are tasked with keeping our communities safe,” the letter states. “Incidental exposure to synthetic opioids is difficult to detect and potentially fatal, and we are deeply concerned by recent reports of officers who have suffered accidental overdoses after coming into contact with these substances while at work.”
Portman and Klobuchar, who previously introduced the Synthetic Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act and the Prescription Drug Monitoring Act in response to the synthetic drug epidemic, also requested that the DEA elaborate on additional measures or resources that could help protect emergency responders.
“As you know, illicit fentanyl and fentanyl analogues are being shipped across our borders and making their way into communities nationwide,” the letter states. “We have seen firsthand the devastation caused by the opioid abuse epidemic in our states.”
In Minnesota, deaths caused by synthetic opioids more than doubled from 2015 to 2016. And in Montgomery County, Ohio, there have been 364 overdoses in the first five months of this year, compared to 371 overdoses in 2016.