Wednesday, August 31st, is National Overdose Awareness Day, and I want to take this time to discuss the recent surge of fentanyl analogues and the danger they pose to our communities. 

Fentanyl is a controlled substance. However, illicit fentanyl production is the primary driver of our record-breaking numbers. Fentanyl abuse has become more prevalent and more dangerous in recent years due to “fentanyl analogues” and “fentanyl-related substances,” which are similar in chemical makeup but far more powerful. 

One life lost to overdose is one life too many. Sadly, from April 2020 to April 2021, we saw over 100,000 overdose deaths for the first time. In the United States, someone dies every 7.5 minutes from fentanyl poisoning. These are heartbreaking statistics, and I pray God’s peace to all who find their loved ones personally affected. 

Fentanyl and its analogues are easier to produce and quicker to make than other drugs. They are also twenty times more profitable. For these reasons, criminal drug cartels are flooding our border with counterfeit pills. Last month, fentanyl seizures at the border increased by 200 percent, which only counts what U.S. Customs and Border Patrol caught.

In 2020, Oklahoma lost 136 of our own to overdose deaths due to fentanyl – a nearly 152 percent increase from the previous year. Back in March of 2021, there were 750 fentanyl pills seized during a traffic stop in Oklahoma City. This August, the Tulsa Police Department made the largest fentanyl bust in Tulsa police history. Officers recovered more than 5,200 grams of fentanyl in powder and pills, which is approximately enough for 2.5 million lethal doses. This dangerous drug has found its way into our Oklahoma communities, and Congress must take a hands-on approach to combat it. 

House Republicans, including my colleagues on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, have introduced legislation to protect our communities from this dangerous substance. I am proud to cosponsor the HALT Fentanyl Act to permanently classify fentanyl analogues as “schedule 1,” meaning it is a drug deemed as having no medical use, a high potential for abuse, and a lack of accepted safety. I am also a cosponsor of the Fentanyl Trafficker Elimination Act. This legislation will hold fentanyl smugglers accountable for their role in the U.S. opioid epidemic through increased criminal penalties. 

Finally, we must secure our southern border. Drug cartels are taking advantage of President Biden’s open border policies and it is costing lives. Many of these fentanyl analogues are coming from China, an adversary taking advantage of the obvious crisis at our border. 

Drug overdose is blind to age, race, socioeconomic status, and geographic location. Take a moment this week to check up on friends and neighbors and remember to look out for one another. Too many lives have already been cut short.