[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 8, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2737-S2740]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                            Opioid Epidemic

  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I come to the floor today again to talk 
about the drug epidemic that continues to be such a big issue in my 
home State of Ohio and around our country. I am here now for my 56th 
floor speech, I am told, on this topic, sometimes talking about the 
opioid crisis that has gripped my State the way it has so many others 
in this Chamber but also talking about other issues that relate to the 
drug epidemic. It is not just about the prescription drugs, the heroin, 
the fentanyl, and the carfentanil that have impacted so many women and 
children and families and devastated so many communities; there are 
also other issues. The one I want to talk about today is what is 
happening with regard to crystal meth.
  Methamphetamine is back with a vengeance, and we need to have a more 
effective response to it. Congress has done quite a bit in the last 
several years to push back against this drug epidemic.
  New policies have been put in place at the Federal level for the past 
few years that are promoting better prevention, treatment, and recovery 
and helping our law enforcement respond with Narcan--that miracle drug 
that reverses the effects of overdoses--and helping to ensure that we 
have a prevention message out there that is more effective.
  Congress has now spent more than $3 billion in additional funding--
taxpayer dollars--to support treatment and recovery programs, and it 
has been needed. The Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act has 
provided a lot of that, and so has the 21st Century Cures Act. That 
goes directly to the States.
  The good news is that these efforts are actually starting to pay off. 
Drug overdose deaths are still way too high. In Ohio, we started with a 
high-water mark, but after 8 years of more people dying every single 
year, finally, last year, we saw in Ohio and around the country a 
reduction in overdose deaths. That is great news. We peaked in 2017 at 
72,000 Americans losing their lives. It is the No. 1 cause of death in 
my home State of Ohio and the No. 1 cause of death for all Americans 
under the age of 50.
  The progress has been particularly encouraging in places like Ohio. 
We saw a 21.4-percent drop in overdose deaths in the first half of last 
year, 2018. Those are the last numbers we have and the most recent data 
we have. That was the biggest drop in the Nation, actually, between 
July of 2017 and June of 2018. So in that 1-year period, according to 
the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, Ohio had the biggest 
drop in the country. Again, that was partly because Ohio's numbers were 
so high. We were second in the Nation in overdose deaths, from that 
data.
  Nationally, we are seeing a more promising, if more modest, downturn 
in overdose deaths. Between September of 2017 and March of 2018, 
overdose deaths fell from about 72,000 to about 71,000. Overall, the 
overdose rate dropped in 21 States and nearly a full percentage point 
nationally. So at least we are seeing some progress finally, after 8 
years of increases every year and more and more heartbreak. This is 
progress.
  I think we would have been doing even better, frankly, if we hadn't 
seen the big influx of fentanyl over the last 3 or 4 years. Again, 
Congress has passed important legislation, but we are pushing up 
against more and more fentanyl coming into our communities. That is an 
incredibly powerful synthetic opioid--50 times more powerful than 
heroin--inexpensive, and it is coming primarily from China and 
primarily through the U.S. mail system.
  Our pushback on that more recently that is starting to be effective 
is called the STOP Act. We just passed it in this body last year. What 
the STOP Act says is that the post office has to start screening 
packages, particularly from countries like China, from which we know 
fentanyl is coming in. They haven't done exactly what we asked them to 
do yet, but they are doing a better job of stopping the poison from 
coming in from China, which is where the vast majority comes from.
  Today, even as we see progress on opioids and as we see somewhat less 
fentanyl coming in and therefore higher prices for fentanyl on the 
street, which is important--as we see this progress, we are also seeing 
something that is very discouraging. What I have been hearing now for 
over a year from law enforcement, treatment providers, social service 
providers, and community leaders back home is that there is a 
resurgence of methamphetamine--pure, powerful crystal meth--coming 
primarily from Mexico.

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  I meet regularly with treatment providers and drug abuse task forces 
all over our State. Recently, I talked to community leaders in Knox 
County, at the Southeast Healthcare Services in Columbus, at the ADAMHS 
Board in Adams, Lawrence, and Scioto Counties, the Hamilton County 
Heroin Coalition, and community leaders and law enforcement in Butler 
County. Every single meeting ended up the same way: We are finally 
making progress on opioids. Thanks for your help--because all these 
communities are taking advantage of the legislation we passed here--but 
the new scourge is crystal meth. Help us with that.
  Often they are saying that this crystal meth is being laced with 
something else, sometimes fentanyl. So this same deadly fentanyl we 
talked about earlier is sometimes now being laced with crystal meth, 
making for a devastating cocktail.
  The October 2018 report from Ohio University said that 
psychostimulants--including methamphetamine--were found in just nine 
unintentional deaths in 2010. That number rose to 509 in 2017, the most 
recent data we have. That is an over 5,000-percent increase. Something 
is happening out there. Again, having finally gotten control of the 
opioid issue, even the fentanyl, synthetic opioids, which is the latest 
surge, now we are seeing methamphetamine deaths rising dramatically.
  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, deaths 
involving cocaine and psychostimulants, including meth, have also 
increased nationwide in recent years. Among the more than 70,000 drug 
overdose deaths in 2017, nearly 23,000--nearly one-third--involved 
psychostimulants such as meth, cocaine, or both. From 2016 to 2017, 
deaths rates involving cocaine and psychostimulants like meth each 
increased by approximately 33 percent. This increase is across all 
demographic groups, all census regions, and in several States.
  A July 2018 report from the Ohio Department of Mental Health and 
Addiction Services highlights the intertwined nature of rising meth 
usage rates and the ongoing opioid crisis. They said some meth users 
initially turned to this drug to manage the heavy crashes that followed 
prolonged use of heroin and other opioids, and then they became just as 
addicted to meth as they were addicted to opioids. So that is one 
reason I think we see this increase in methamphetamines in Ohio--
because users are turning to meth to manage the crashes that follow 
prolonged use of heroin.
  Meth is now stronger and cheaper than ever before. Again, it is 
coming almost exclusively to Ohio from Mexico. The days of home 
chemists and the one-pot meth labs are actually over. You probably 
heard about it in your community or other States where these meth labs 
were a big setup, and they created a huge environmental problem, as 
well as the issue of producing meth, which was devastating communities.
  Those meth labs are pretty much gone now. In Ohio, there is not a 
county that tells me there is a meth lab left. That may sound like good 
news, but it is actually bad news. The meth labs are gone because the 
meth coming in from Mexico is more powerful and it is cheaper. So why 
make meth in the basement when you can have crystal meth delivered to 
your doorstep from Mexico? It is being mass-produced by Mexican drug 
cartels who are smuggling it into the United States.
  According to Dennis Lowe, who is the commander of the Major Crimes 
Unit in Athens, OH, ``[Mexican drug cartels] almost single-handedly 
eliminated meth labs in the State of Ohio. . . . People are getting 
better quality product and it's cheaper to buy from a cartel.''
  So it is more powerful, more deadly, and cheaper.
  By the way, one Columbus, OH, enforcement officer recently told me 
that crystal meth on the streets of Columbus is less expensive than 
marijuana now--another reason we see it increasing.
  As I have heard from folks all over Ohio, we are also seeing meth 
laced with other drugs, including fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine. Many 
of these cartels splice these drugs into methamphetamine but don't tell 
the customers, so users may be consuming dangerous opioids without 
realizing it. Any street drug can be deadly.
  Much of the methamphetamine, as I said, enters from Mexico through 
the ports of entry. It comes in bulk through the ports of entry. It is 
often hidden in cars and trucks. Smugglers make it through the 
screening process, and they sell it to the distribution network.
  So we need to do more at the ports of entry to have better screening. 
According to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection folks, the amount 
of methamphetamines seized at our ports of entry has soared from 14,000 
pounds in 2012 to 56,000 pounds in 2018--a huge increase. In fact, just 
in the last year alone, we have seen a 38-percent increase in 
methamphetamines trafficking across the southern border.
  According to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of 
Ohio, the number of crystal meth submissions to the Ohio Bureau of 
Criminal Investigations' lab rose from 2,000 in 2015 to over 12,000 in 
2018--in just a 3-year period, a 500-percent increase.
  What's happening with crystal meth is one reason we need more 
resources to secure our southern border. It is not just my opinion. The 
experts at Customs and Border Protection tell us they need more 
physical barriers; they need more border patrol agents; they need more 
technology; they need more surveillance; they need more cameras; they 
need more screening to stop this illegal flow of drugs.
  I think we are beginning now to make some progress here since we are 
deploying more sophisticated technology at the ports of entry, and that 
is smart. But the traffickers are smarter, and they are also learning 
ways to avoid those ports of entry, to go around them, to cross 
wherever they can continue this evil and prosperous trade.
  A story originating in Galion, OH, last year caught the Nation's 
attention. A 5-year-old was out trick-or-treating for Halloween last 
year, and he was exposed to meth and began suffering from seizures and 
other symptoms of meth exposure.
  Law enforcement checked his Halloween candy, thinking that was the 
problem, and it was not. It wasn't laced with the drug as they feared. 
But then they found the meth. It was in his own home--his own family 
home. His father eventually was charged with possession of drugs and 
tampering with evidence. But here is a 5-year-old kid suffering from a 
meth exposure.
  Two weeks ago, I was in Knox County, OH, Central Ohio, where I 
participated in a roundtable discussion with local elected leaders and 
law enforcement officials, mental health recovery folks. This board is 
focused on the crystal meth problem. Why? Because it is overwhelming 
them. Opioids used to be their No. 1 issue. Now it is crystal meth.
  I was told that methamphetamines are now involved in 89 percent of 
the drug cases in Knox County, and in many cases there is polysubstance 
abuse or overlap with any combination of meth, heroin, and marijuana.
  Last August the Knox County Sheriff's Department arrested three 
individuals who were involved in trafficking, distribution of meth, 
moving from Columbus into Knox County. By the way, what law enforcement 
tells me about methamphetamines is that they are causing a new state of 
crimes, somewhat closer to the cocaine crimes that would have been back 
in the 1990s when cocaine was the primary concern.
  Heroin is a drug that does not create the same stimulant effect; it 
is not a psychostimulant. So the crimes primarily are crimes to pay for 
the drugs--property crimes--whereas the meth crimes often tend to be 
crimes of violence because it is a stimulant like cocaine.
  So law enforcement tells me they are very concerned. Their jails are 
being crowded now with meth users who are there for serious crimes. The 
big issue they are looking at is this: How do you get people through 
successful recovery?
  Here is the other bad news: We do not know much about how to help 
people in recovery with methamphetamines. We know that with regard to 
opioids, there are medication-assisted treatments that can be used, 
and, in general, recovery practices that work for opioids can work for 
meth--taking people through a therapy process--but there are not the 
drugs to be able to help you

[[Page S2739]]

through it, as there are with opioids. So it is an even tougher problem 
in some respects.
  We talked about the Federal funding that had been awarded to Knox 
County when I was there, and they are really happy about it. They are 
getting money through the 21st Century Cures funding that came from 
here, then went to the State of Ohio, and went down to them. They are 
getting money from my CARA legislation, the Comprehensive Addiction and 
Recovery Act. They are also getting funding from the Drug-Free 
Communities Act--legislation that I authored when I was in the House of 
Representatives many years ago, and it is being used for prevention 
very effectively in some of these counties.
  The one thing they said about the funding was that they want to be 
sure that there is more flexibility, particularly in the 21st Century 
Cures fund. So it can be used not just for opioids but also for dealing 
with this meth issue, which is their big problem now.
  So my hope is that we will begin to see some flexibility in those 
funding streams to be able to help places like Knox County.
  We need to build a sustainable infrastructure for prevention, 
treatment, and longer term recovery from all drugs. For these 
communities, having that flexibility gives them the ability to respond 
to whatever the latest problem is that is facing their community.
  The U.S. Attorney's Office based in Cleveland, OH, which is led by 
Justin Herdman, has been deeply involved in this effort to combat the 
spread and distribution of meth. Last August his office indicted eight 
people in Federal Court for their efforts to create a methamphetamine 
and cocaine trafficking supply network--a supply chain from Mexico all 
the way to Ohio.
  In connection to these arrests, DEA agents seized more than 144 
pounds of meth from a warehouse outside of Cleveland. It is believed to 
be the largest seizure of methamphetamine in Ohio history. Again, it 
demonstrates just how serious this threat is and how these criminal 
organizations pose such a threat to our State and our country.
  Back in 2005, Congress passed a bill on meth. It was called the 
Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act. It regulated the over-the-counter 
sale of certain drugs, like epinephrine, because of their use in the 
manufacture of methamphetamines. This helped to combat the ability of 
the meth producers to manufacture cheap methamphetamine from over-the-
counter medicines that were easy to get. It dropped the price and 
reduced its availability. However, Mexican cartels have now again 
supplanted these domestic labs so that legislation is no longer 
effective because here we are laden with these cheap, high quality, 
crystal meth supplies from Mexico.
  As the public learns more about the dangers of opioids and works to 
wean themselves off those drugs, methamphetamine, if left unchecked, is 
primed now to become the new drug of choice, perpetuating the cycle of 
abuse. We cannot let that happen.
  As we begin to make progress again on the opioid epidemic, which is 
the worst drug crisis in the history of our country--and remains so--we 
can't take our eye off the ball. What we are doing is actually helping 
in the fight against opioids. We need to keep it up. We are actually 
making progress, finally. We have to keep the pressure on. But my 
question is, What do we do about the next wave coming? What do we do 
about the methamphetamine that is coming into my State and your State?
  First, we need to continue awareness about the issue of addiction 
generally. This is not about one drug or just opioids or just meth or 
just cocaine. It is about the overall addiction--treating addiction 
like a disease, which it is; providing better treatment so that people 
can get back on their feet; providing longer term recovery. So raising 
that awareness generally is important, not just as to opioids but as to 
addiction, which is really the issue.
  Second, we have to do more on our southwest borders to stop the flow 
of this crystal meth coming in. It is not the ultimate solution because 
there is enough demand in America for this drug. It will find its way 
in, but we can stop some of it. We are beginning to do that. At a 
minimum, we can raise the price on the street, which is one of the 
problems right now. As I said, it is incredibly inexpensive. As one law 
enforcement person told me, it is less expensive than marijuana in some 
cities of America.
  Next, we need to do more to support Federal prevention programs that 
can address this issue--prevention, education, awareness. This is 
ultimately the most effective way to stop this epidemic from growing. 
One tool to do that is called the Drug-Free Communities Act. It has 
established more than 2,000 coalitions now around the country. Let's 
continue to support those coalitions.
  Very little Federal money has gone in compared to the private-sector 
money, the State and local money, the foundation money, but it 
leverages some of that other money. We need to continue to support 
these community foundations.
  Next, let's start a new prevention program focused on this meth 
challenge. One place we could find that funding, by the way, is in the 
Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act. We authorized and then 
actually appropriated $10 million for a national prevention program. We 
allowed HSS to set that up. They haven't done it yet. I think it is 
important that we do it. I would take that $10 million and multiply it 
manyfold by using it as leverage to go out to the private sector, to 
encourage foundations, companies, pharma companies, and others to help 
in this effort. I believe there is an interest in that. I know there 
is. Let's do a massive prevention program because that may be, in the 
end, the most effective way to keep people from getting into the funnel 
of addiction in the first place.

  Next, we need to continue to expand and support these high intensity 
drug trafficking areas. They really work. I will tell you, in Ohio, 
when you have Federal resources, combined with State and local 
resources, when they are coordinated together, focused on this drug 
issue, they make a lot of sense. They have stopped a lot of the meth 
distribution, as I said, in Ohio. I talked about what happened in 
Northeast Ohio. There was the largest meth seizure ever. That was 
through the HIDTA Program.
  Next, we need a more effective treatment for meth. NIDA--the National 
Institute on Drug Abuse--and the NIH--the National Institutes of 
Health--are working on answers. But we need new medications so we can 
assist with quality treatment to help those suffering from addiction 
get into recovery. This is a major challenge.
  I spoke to Scott Gottlieb today, who is a former FDA Commissioner, 
about this issue, and I have talked to others. We need to do everything 
we can to support efforts to try to come up with medication that can 
assist with regard to the treatment for these psychostimulant drugs.
  Finally, we have to be sure that the communities have more 
flexibility to use the Federal funding they are already getting through 
Cures, through the State Opioid Response grants, to address issues like 
meth. I am exploring whether legislation is necessary to provide that 
flexibility, but I believe a lot of it could be provided through the 
administration of these grants and through the States.
  I will continue to ensure that the Federal Government is a better 
partner for those working on the frontlines on this drug epidemic. 
Opioids--yes, we need to keep up the fight. We are finally making 
progress. After 8 years of increases in opioid deaths, finally last 
year, for the first time in 8 years, we are seeing a reduction of those 
deaths--the worst drug epidemic in the history of our country. It is 
not a time for us to pull back. It is time to focus on what is working 
and do more of it. But, also, we have these new challenges, 
particularly crystal meth. We need to do a better job of addressing 
that, as we talked about today.
  Working together, I believe we can make a difference. I believe we 
can turn the tide on addiction in this country.
  Thank you.
  I yield back.
  I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. PORTMAN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order 
for the quorum call be rescinded.

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  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.