South Fairfax News

Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) released the following statement:

"Earlier this week I was proud to vote for bipartisan legislation to investigate the financing mechanisms used to facilitate the trafficking of fentanyl into our country. This is the type of policy that Congress should be advancing to help our country respond to the complex issues of addiction and drug trafficking. I also voted to reject a misguided and incomplete approach to the opioid epidemic.

While I believe we all aspire to end the devastating impact of fentanyl on our communities, the bill before Congress today, H.R. 476, would take a mindless and heartless approach to enforcement and punishment while preventing access to potential therapies for overdose reversal. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past and prioritize punishment over mitigation, prevention, and treatment.

The "war on drugs" of the 1980s and 1990s failed to effectively address drug addiction and instead resulted in mass incarceration and the deepening of existing social disparities. It is essential that we learn from history and avoid taking a one-dimensional approach that focuses solely on punitive measures. Punishment alone will not lift us from the opioid epidemic. We must prioritize evidence-based strategies and develop a comprehensive response that tackles the root causes of the fentanyl crisis while we continue to meet the needs of those suffering from addiction.

I want to reiterate my commitment to finding effective solutions to the fentanyl crisis. While H.R. 476 falls short of the comprehensive and balanced approach required to tackle this complex issue, I am proud to be a cosponsor of the STOP Fentanyl Overdoses Act, which takes a robust and multifaceted public health approach to the opioid epidemic. This bill addresses the supply of fentanyl through enhanced surveillance, grants for law enforcement to support their efforts to detect and handle fentanyl, reporting requirements on countries producing synthetic drugs as well as practices on screening incoming mail and cargo for fentanyl. H.R. 476, in sad contrast, does nothing to stop the inflow of fentanyl into our country or monitor how it spreads in communities.

The STOP Fentanyl Overdoses Act also prevents overdoses and addiction by limiting penalties for people administering overdose reversal medication, establishing a program to offer medication treatment for opioid use disorder, provides grants to states and local governments to educate those on the front line of the epidemic on the state of addiction research, and requiring reporting to enhance surveillance, prevention, and treatment efforts.

These are the types of solutions to this epidemic that Congress should be considering, not recycling the failed war on drugs playbook. Unfortunately, amendments to improve upon H.R. 476 by adding a fast track for research and by taking a careful approach to mandatory minimums were all rejected in committee. I hope that the Senate takes a serious bipartisan approach in their review of this legislation and others that address the opioid epidemic."

Original source can be found here.