Press Releases

WASHINGTON—Today, U.S. Representative Brittany Pettersen (CO-07) introduced her first bill, alongside Representative Joyce Beatty (OH-03), to establish a National Center to prevent the import of illicit synthetic drugs, like fentanyl and its precursors, into the United States. The Stop the Import of Fentanyl Act would create this center under the Drug Enforcement Administration and instruct the Director to investigate how synthetic drugs come into the country, as well as to create a strategic plan for breaking up the synthetic drug trade, tracking the movements of drug traffickers, and serving as the central knowledge bank on drug trafficking organizations.

For the full text of the bill, click here.

“Fentanyl has taken over drug supply chains globally and was responsible for more than 85% of all opioid overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2021. I am all too familiar with the devastating and lethal effects of synthetic drugs like these, as my own mother overdosed 20 times in one year because of fentanyl. A National Center dedicated to combating the import and distribution of fentanyl and other drugs is crucial if we want to tackle this public health crisis. I’m proud to introduce this legislation alongside Ranking Member Beatty so we can hold drug cartels accountable, consolidate national efforts to stop drug trafficking, and protect families across Colorado and the nation,” said Pettersen, a member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions.

“Illicit synthetic drugs such as fentanyl are devastating our communities at an alarming rate, with overdose deaths rising rapidly in recent years. Establishing a National Center to analyze, track, and halt the import of these illicit drugs into the United States is a critical first step toward protecting our communities. I am proud to join Congresswoman Pettersen in the effort to break up the synthetic drug trade,” said Beatty, Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions.

This bill is just the latest in Pettersen’s ongoing efforts to address the opioid epidemic in the United States, inspired by her mother’s decades-long struggle with a substance use disorder. In the Colorado state legislature, she spent years championing policies to improve access to substance use disorder treatment and is now working on the federal level to attack the opioid crisis head-on. Her efforts include measures to crack down on the sale of illicit drugs through social media and working with her colleagues on the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force to find solutions to both crises. 

The United States is currently in the third wave of the opioid overdose epidemic, defined by the rise in synthetic opioids, particularly those involving illicitly manufactured fentanyl. The market for illicitly manufactured fentanyl continues to change, and it can be found in combination with heroin, counterfeit pills, and cocaine. Rates of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone, which includes fentanyl and fentanyl analogs, increased over 56% from 2019 to 2020. The number of overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids in 2020 was more than 18 times the number in 2013.