Buchanan backs bill that would improve interception of fentanyl by mail

U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan announced Wednesday he was again co-sponsoring a House bill introduced last week targeting fentanyl shipments from overseas.

The Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention, or STOP, Act would require more intensive screening of packages from foreign countries coming into U.S. Postal Service facilities. Currently, non-letter packages aren’t fully screened.

Private shipping companies like FedEx and United Parcel Service already make shippers provide electronic data stating who and where the package is coming from and going to and what’s inside, which is what STOP would require of the U.S. Postal Service.

The House and Senate versions, the latter co-sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, were filed on Feb. 14. Reps. Pat Tiberi, R-Ohio, and Richard E. Neal, R-Mass., introduced the House bill.

Fentanyl and carfentanil are synthetic opioids that are being mixed with heroin to make it more potent, in turn increasing the likelihood of overdose or death. The additional ingredients have caused a crisis in Manatee County, one of the counties that Buchanan represents, as fentanyl-related deaths in 2015 were the highest number per capita compared to all Florida’s counties.

“If we want to save lives and reduce overdose deaths, we must stop these new killer drugs from crossing the border,” Buchanan said.

This story was originally published February 22, 2017 at 10:44 AM with the headline "Buchanan backs bill that would improve interception of fentanyl by mail."