Bill Details
Status
Latest action
2025-02-25 - Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary. (text: CR S1358)
Introduced Date
2025-02-25
Policy Area
Crime and Law Enforcement
Committees
View committees (1)
Sponsors
Cosponsors
View cosponsors (1)
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AI Summary This summary was generated by AI from the bill text. AI can get information wrong.
This Senate resolution supports making February 23, 2025, through March 1, 2025, “National Fentanyl Awareness Week” and calls attention to the harm fentanyl is causing across the United States. It says fentanyl has driven many overdose deaths, is often mixed into fake pills and other street drugs, and can be deadly in very small amounts. The resolution does not create a new law or penalty. Instead, it asks people to be careful with medicines, encourages those with substance use problems to get help, and praises law enforcement, treatment programs, and recovery groups that are working to fight the fentanyl crisis.
- It recognizes the large number of overdose deaths in the U.S. and says fentanyl is a major reason for the crisis.
- It highlights that fentanyl is much stronger than heroin and can be hard to detect in pills or powder without lab testing.
- It notes that fentanyl is often found in fake pills and sometimes mixed with drugs like cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
- It encourages people to use only medicine prescribed by a doctor and urges anyone struggling with substance use to seek help.
Official Summaries
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Current Full Text
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 95 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. RES. 95
Expressing support for the designation of February 23, 2025, to March
1, 2025, as ``National Fentanyl Awareness Week'' and raising awareness
of the negative impacts of fentanyl in the United States.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
February 25, 2025
Mr. Scott of Florida (for himself and Mr. Justice) submitted the
following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary
_______________________________________________________________________
RESOLUTION
Expressing support for the designation of February 23, 2025, to March
1, 2025, as ``National Fentanyl Awareness Week'' and raising awareness
of the negative impacts of fentanyl in the United States.
Whereas, as of August 2024, drug overdoses during the previous 12 months claimed
a reported 86,678 lives in the United States;
Whereas countless families in the United States are now facing the unimaginable
pain of losing a child, mother, father, sibling or loved one taken by
deadly, illegal fentanyl;
Whereas the life expectancy in the United States remains impacted by the opioid
crisis, with people born in 2023 estimated to live 78.4 years;
Whereas social isolation and poor support systems contribute to increased
overdose risk among older adults;
Whereas, from 2022 to 2023, adults aged 65 and older experienced the largest
percentage increase in the rate of drug overdose deaths, with an
increase of 11.4 percent;
Whereas fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin, and is considered the
deadliest drug threat in the United States;
Whereas drug traffickers use illicit fentanyl to produce fake or counterfeit
pills;
Whereas drug traffickers are using fentanyl-laced fake or counterfeit pills to
exploit the opioid crisis in the United States;
Whereas, without laboratory testing, there is no safe way to know how much
fentanyl is concentrated in a pill or powder;
Whereas those illicit drugs are primarily made in secret factories in Mexico
with chemicals mostly from China;
Whereas the Drug Enforcement Agency has issued warnings about brightly colored
fentanyl-laced pills being used to target young individuals in the
United States;
Whereas less than 2 milligrams is considered a deadly dose of fentanyl;
Whereas the Drug Enforcement Agency announced that in 2024 alone, the Drug
Enforcement Agency seized over 367,000,000 doses of potentially deadly
fentanyl, enough to kill every individual in the United States, which
included--
(1) more than 55,000,000 fentanyl-laced pills; and
(2) 7,800 pounds of fentanyl powder;
Whereas U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 21,889 pounds of
fentanyl in fiscal year 2024;
Whereas fentanyl has also been found in street drugs such as cocaine, heroin,
and methamphetamine; and
Whereas, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
fentanyl-related poisonings are currently the leading cause of death for
individuals in the United States ages 18 to 45: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate--
(1) applauds the work of Federal, State, and local law
enforcement agencies for their work in combating the fentanyl
crisis;
(2) applauds the work of treatment and recovery
organizations that help individuals with substance use
disorder;
(3) encourages all individuals to only use medication
prescribed through their physician;
(4) encourages anyone suffering from substance use disorder
to seek assistance; and
(5) designates February 23, 2025, through March 1, 2025, as
``National Fentanyl Awareness Week''.
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