Bipartisan bill from Markey targets fentanyl
Courtesy/State House News Service
Senator Edward Markey.
As fentanyl propels the scourge of opioid overdose deaths in Massachusetts, U.S. Sen. Edward Markey plans on Tuesday to tout a bill he's filed with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio to give border patrol agents technology to identify and seize illicit fentanyl before it enters the country.
The International Narcotics Trafficking Emergency Response by Detecting Incoming Contraband with Technology Act, also known as the INTERDICT Act, would provide Customs and Border Protection (CBP) tools like chemical screening devices to help detect and interdict fentanyl and other illicit synthetic opioids.
"Illicit fentanyl being trafficked into the United States is an immediate and grave threat to the American people," Markey said in a statement. "Customs and Border Protection is a critical line of defense in the battle to stop fentanyl from flooding our communities, and we need to give it the latest technological tools to detect and intercept this deadly drug."
According to Markey's office, Mexico is the primary source for illicit fentanyl trafficked into the U.S., while China serves as the principal source of the chemicals used to manufacture the drug. The drug is often shipped to the United States through the mail and express consignment carriers.
In 2016, CBP seized nearly 200 pounds of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids, primarily along the southwest border, a 25-fold increase over the previous year.
Of the 1,899 opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts in 2016 where a toxicology screen was available, 69 percent had a positive screen for fentanyl, according to data from the Department of Public Health.
Joining Markey for the 1 p.m. press conference at the Watertown Police Department will be Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, Watertown Police Chief Mike Lawn and John Rosenthal from Police Addiction And Recovery Initiative.
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