WASHINGTON, DC - Energy and Commerce Committee Republican Leader Greg Walden (R-OR) and Judiciary Committee Republican Leader Doug Collins (R-GA) applauded House passage of S. 3201, the temporary extension on the fentanyl analogues ban.
For weeks, Walden and Collins have pushed Democratic leadership to pass this extension after Democrats objected to its inclusion in the spending bill. Without this extension, the ban on fentanyl analogues would expire on February 6, making these drugs essentially street legal.
“There is no question that fentanyl poses an absolutely deadly threat to American lives, yet it took Democrats until the 11th hour to extend the fentanyl analogues ban. Thanks to pressure from patients, families, law enforcement, and communities everywhere, House Democrats finally joined the Senate and House Republicans in passing the fentanyl analogues ban. We can only hope that the next time lives hang in the balance, we won’t have to wait until the last minute for Democrats to act," Walden and Collins said.
Fentanyl and other synthetic opioids are the most lethal category of opioids abused in the U.S. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) instituted a ban on fentanyl analogues in 2018, but it was left to Congress to determine whether or not to extend it beyond the February 6 deadline. The temporary extension bill now heads to the president’s desk.
