118 SRES 79 IS: Expressing support for the designation of February 26, 2023, to March 4, 2023, as “National Fentanyl Awareness Week” and raising awareness of the negative impacts of fentanyl in the United States. U.S. Senate 2023-02-27 text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

III118th CONGRESS1st SessionS. RES. 79IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATESFebruary 27, 2023Mr. Scott of Florida submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the JudiciaryRESOLUTIONExpressing support for the designation of February 26, 2023, to March 4, 2023, as National Fentanyl Awareness Week and raising awareness of the negative impacts of fentanyl in the United States.

Whereas, as of August 2022, drug overdoses during the previous 12 months claimed a reported 101,552 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 has dropped to its lowest point in 2 decades, in part because of street drugs like fentanyl;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 and counterfeit pills;Whereas drug traffickers are using fentanyl-laced fake and counterfeit pills to exploit the opioid crisis in the United States;Whereas those illicit drugs are primarily made in secret factories in Mexico with chemicals mostly from China; Whereas, without laboratory testing, there is no safe way to know how much fentanyl is concentrated in a pill or powder;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 2022 alone, the Drug Enforcement Agency seized over 379,000,000 doses of potentially deadly fentanyl, enough to kill every individual in the United States, which included—(1)more than 50,600,000 fentanyl-laced pills; and(2)10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder;Whereas U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 17,000 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2022;Whereas fentanyl has also been found in street drugs such as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine; andWhereas, 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 49: Now, therefore, be it

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 by their physician;(4)encourages individuals suffering from substance use disorder to seek assistance; and(5)designates February 26, 2023, through March 4, 2023, as National Fentanyl Awareness Week.