[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 87 (Tuesday, May 23, 2023)]
[House]
[Page H2532]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        THE DANGERS OF FENTANYL

  (Mr. PAYNE asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PAYNE. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to discuss the dangers of 
fentanyl.
  Fentanyl is a powerful opioid that is 50 times more potent than 
morphine. Two milligrams, or the size of five grains of salt, can cause 
a possible overdose. Fentanyl is so dangerous that illegal drug makers 
must wear hazmat suits to avoid contact with the drug. It needs to be 
stopped, but H.R. 467, the HALT Fentanyl Act, is not the bill to stop 
it.
  The bill would make it easier to arrest and imprison users of the 
drug, and that would be a major problem in Black communities 
nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control said Black Americans died 
from fentanyl overdoses at much higher rates than any other community.
  We do not need another bill to put more Black Americans in prison; we 
need a bill that criminalizes the drug without criminalizing the drug 
user.

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