On the recordSeptember 22, 2020
we are facing momentous issues in the Senate and in Washington and in our Nation. Today, we are debating a spending bill to keep the government funded past the end of this month. There are ongoing negotiations to help provide additional relief to those most affected by the coronavirus. With the sad news of the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, there is now a Supreme Court vacancy as well. As momentous as these issues are, we ought not miss what is happening on the streets of America, though, as too many in Washington missed for years as Americans were dying by the thousands as a result of the opioid epidemic that hit this country, from prescription pills to heroin, to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Now, in recent years, Washington has gotten the news, and we have taken action to try to stem the tide of drug overdoses around our country. But the fight continues, so I want to call the Senate and the Nation's attention to a new threat: isotonitazene. It is harder to pronounce than fentanyl, but it is equally deadly. It will kill you in a heartbeat, and it also comes from China. Reports of iso--as this hard-to-pronounce drug is often called on the street--are still scattered. A shipment was seized in Canada early last year. Now it has been popping up in Europe, in countries as far flung as Belgium, Estonia, Germany, Latvia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, and, at about the same time, iso has found its way to America as well.…
Source
govinfo.gov




