Larry Bucshon: “I point out that this is fentanyl poisoning, and just because people use illicit drugs, they certainly don't deserve to…”

“I point out that this is fentanyl poisoning, and just because people use illicit drugs, they certainly don't deserve to die from it. Madam Chair, I rise in strong support of the HALT Fentanyl Act. In 2022, roughly 75,000 Americans died from poisoning by synthetic opioids, largely illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances. Illicit fentanyl poisonings are now the number one cause of death among adults ages 18 to 49, as has been pointed out many times. People who have died from illicit fentanyl poisoning are not just statistics. They are someone's child, sibling, parent, family member, or close friend. It is happening in every community across America. It doesn't discriminate against socioeconomic class, race, or religion. Just last week, a Federal grand jury indicted a man in Evansville, Indiana, my hometown, for selling counterfeit prescription pills laced with fentanyl over social media that caused at least three poisonings and the death of a 19-year-old woman in 2022. Last fall, a Federal grand jury indicted another man in Evansville who sold fentanyl pills in 2021 that ended up killing a 3-year-old toddler and resulted in nonfatal poisonings of two other children in a home after they found illicit fentanyl pills in a nightstand and took them. These are heartbreaking stories, and we in this body have the power to do something to help prevent more of them from occurring.…”