Klobuchar has introduced two bipartisan bills to address the dangers of synthetic drugs— the Synthetic Abuse and Labeling of Toxic Substances (SALTS) Act to make it easier to prosecute the sale of “analogue” drugs, and the Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act to help stop synthetic drugs from being shipped through our borders to drug traffickers in the U.S.
WASHINGTON- U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar spoke at yesterday’s Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism hearing about the dangers of synthetic drugs like fentanyl and efforts to combat the opioid epidemic. She questioned the panelists about the dozens of analogues of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids crossing our borders, High Density Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) funding for Minnesota, and the challenges of cracking down on shipments containing illicit drugs from overseas. Klobuchar also discussed two of her bipartisan bills to address the dangers of synthetic drugs— the Synthetic Abuse and Labeling of Toxic Substances (SALTS) Act to make it easier to prosecute the sale of “analogue” drugs, and the Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act to help stop synthetic drugs from being shipped through our borders to drug traffickers in the U.S.
“We had 637 deaths from opioids and other drug overdoses in 2016— 85 involved fentanyl and one of those was Prince, so it’s something that hits hard in our state,” Klobuchar said. “We need to crack down on dangerous synthetic drugs coming from foreign countries through our postal system and make it easier to prosecute the sale and distribution of those synthetic analogues – I have bipartisan bills that would do both. We need to get these bills passed.”
As a former Hennepin County Attorney, Klobuchar has long led local and national efforts to curb drug abuse and help people overcome addiction. In February, Klobuchar and Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), and Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced the bipartisan Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) 2.0 Act. The bill will increase the funding authorization levels for the CARA programs enacted in 2016 and put in place additional policy reforms to help combat the opioid epidemic.
To build on the monumental first step of CARA, Klobuchar introduced the Prescription Drug Monitoring Act, which would require the use of strong prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) in all states that receive certain federal funding to combat opioid abuse and also requires states to make their PDMP data available to other states.
Last year, Klobuchar and a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Synthetic Abuse and Labeling of Toxic Substances (SALTS) Act. The SALTS Act would make it easier to prosecute the sale of “analogue” drugs, which are synthetic substances that are substantially similar to illegal drugs. Klobuchar and Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) also introduced the bipartisan Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act to help stop dangerous synthetic drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped through our borders to drug traffickers in the United States.
In September 2014, the DEA implemented Klobuchar’s bipartisan Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act. Under the legislation, consumers are provided with more safe and responsible ways to dispose of unused prescription medications and controlled substances.
Follow this link to download video of Senator Klobuchar at yesterday's hearing: KLOBUCHAR_JUDIC_PM_QA1_041118.mp4
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