[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 6]
[House]
[Page 8507]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             STATE EFFORTS TO CRACK DOWN ON OPIOID EPIDEMIC

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, recently I was proud to 
vote for a package of bills here on the floor of the United States 
House intended to help crack down on the terrible epidemic of 
prescription opioid abuse and heroin abuse across our Nation.
  Today, I want to recognize the efforts in the Pennsylvania General 
Assembly to assist in the goal of fighting back against all drug use. 
Specifically, a new law authored by State Representative Matt Baker, 
who represents a portion of Pennsylvania's Fifth Congressional 
District, would go after designer drugs in which different chemicals 
are combined to create new drugs.
  This new law will speed up the process in adding these drugs to the 
State's list of banned drugs, enabling law enforcement to arrest and 
prosecute the individuals responsible. Giving members of our law 
enforcement community the tools that they need to thwart illegal drug 
manufacturers will save lives.
  Mr. Speaker, if you want to successfully fight back against a 
problem, you surround it. I am proud to see great lifesaving solutions 
coming from both the Federal and the State levels, with additional 
community action in the form of local roundtables and townhall 
meetings.

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