Enacting Tangible and Attainable Solutions to Fight the Fentanyl Crisis
Fentanyl has impacted every community in America, underscoring the critical need for immediate action, and unfortunately, our state has not been excluded from this crisis. In 2023, overdose deaths in Washington state surged by an alarming 34%, the steepest one-year increase nationwide. With pills priced as low as fifty cents, access to fentanyl is easier than ever—it’s no surprise fentanyl is the main driver of opioid deaths in Washington. Today, the state holds the unfortunate distinction of ranking second highest in the nation for fentanyl-related deaths. These startling statistics should concern everyone. We simply cannot stand idly by while this deadly drug ravages our communities, claiming lives and tearing families apart.
Recently, I convened my Central Washington Fentanyl Task Force for its second quarterly meeting. We gathered a diverse group, including law enforcement officers, addiction treatment organizations, medical professionals, drug court officials, school resource officers, tribal leaders, elected officials, community representatives, and individuals impacted by the illicit fentanyl crisis to have a productive discussion on approaches we can take to fight this epidemic at the federal, state, and local levels.
Since the Task Force last met in June, I have been taking steps to enact tangible and attainable solutions at the federal level to help prevent the spread of fentanyl into our communities.
I introduced the Law Enforcement Officers Preventing Overdose Deaths Act to authorize rural community response pilot grant programs to allow state and local law enforcement agencies to purchase naloxone, an effective tool to prevent and reduce fentanyl deaths, and directs at least 50% of the program’s grant funding to rural communities. During our last meeting, we highlighted the pressing issue facing our officers: a lack of adequate resources to cope with the exponential rise in overdoses. Our law enforcement professionals possess excellent training and readiness to assist those in need. Equipping them with the ability to administer naloxone during critical incidents has already been proven to save lives in Central Washington and across the nation and will undoubtedly continue to do so.
I also co-authored a letter with several of my House colleagues, addressed to Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. In this letter, we voiced our concerns regarding the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) insistence on the U.S. lifting sanctions despite their extensive track record of human rights abuses in exchange for their cooperation countering their own counternarcotics operations. As we know, the CCP serves as a major producer of fentanyl precursor chemicals, so it is crucial that they uphold their responsibility to the U.S. and the global community by putting an end to the outbound flow of these unlawful substances.
Most recently, I introduced the Stop Overdose in Schools Act to address the skyrocketing adolescent fentanyl overdose rate. This legislation allocates funding specifically for naloxone training and procurement, ensuring heightened availability for school resource officers, security personnel, and school nurses. Conversations with the Task Force and fellow Central Washingtonians have underscored the need for increased support for our police and school resource officers to perform their duties effectively, and this legislation will be critical in helping our hardworking frontline workers prevent the tragic drug-related overdose deaths of Central Washington—and America’s— youth.
Addressing this crisis goes beyond just a few pieces of legislation in Congress; it demands a comprehensive, collaborative approach involving representatives from all levels of government and solutions that will address the needs of law enforcement, medical professionals, treatment facilities, schools, and all members of our communities. The fentanyl crisis is a pervasive issue sweeping the nation, and I am resolute in my commitment to enact commonsense legislation to safeguard Central Washington and prevent further unnecessary overdose deaths.