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WASHINGTON— On Friday, President Biden signed Representative Brittany Pettersen’s bipartisan legislation to prevent the financing of illegal synthetic drugs into law. Pettersen introduced the bill alongside Monica De La Cruz (R-TX) and Andy Ogles (R-TN) in February 2023. This is Pettersen’s first bill signed into law. 

“Like far too many Americans, my family was impacted by the opioid crisis. My mom’s addiction that started with prescription opioids led to a decades long struggle including heroin and fentanyl. In one year alone, my mom overdosed over 20 times because of fentanyl. We need to stop this crisis at the source by disrupting illicit drug trafficking,” said Pettersen. “I came to Congress to fight the opioid crisis. I am grateful to the President for signing my first bill into law to do just that. This legislation will provide vital insight to Congress into how criminal organizations fund the trafficking of illicit substances, like fentanyl.” 

The Preventing the Financing of Illegal Synthetic Drugs Act (H.R. 1076) directs the Comptroller General of the United States to study and report on illicit financing associated with synthetic drug trafficking. The study will lay out for Congress the business model of the organizations carrying out the trafficking, how they move and hide their illicit gains, and what the U.S. government can do to thwart fentanyl money laundering.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over 107,000 people in the United States died from drug overdoses or poisonings in 2023, with 75% of those deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Data from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows that more than 1,000 Coloradans died from fentanyl poisoning last year, an increase of 18.4% over 2022. 

Full text of the bill can be found here.

Inspired by her own mother’s struggle, this bill is just the latest in Pettersen’s ongoing efforts to address the drug epidemic in the United States. These include measures to prevent the import of illicit drugs, increase Medicaid coverage of residential substance use disorder treatment, and prevent overdose deaths by ensuring airplanes, law enforcement, and hospitals are able to distribute naloxone when necessary.