Rep. Lance Gooden (R., Texas) wants to keep Americans safe from synthetic opioids sold in gas stations and smoke shops.
Gooden, along with Sen. Bernie Moreno (R., Ohio) and Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R., Iowa), Rich McCormick (R., Ga.), Barry Moore (R., Ala.), and Randy Fine (R., Fla.) are releasing the End Gas Station Heroin Act, obtained exclusively by the Washington Reporter.
“Dangerous synthetic opioids powerful enough to fuel addiction and destroy lives should not be sitting on convenience store shelves next to snacks and energy drinks,” Gooden explained. “My bill permanently schedules these drugs, closes loopholes, and targets the entities putting them into our communities.”
The new bill would permanently schedule synthetic opioids and analogs sold in synthetic kratom products, which are frequently known as “gas station heroin.” The legislation also targets manufacturers and distributors who introduce these drugs and creates a special federal enforcement mechanism to address new and emerging substances before manufacturers are able to evade enforcement.
The latter is important, Gooden argues, because under the current law, synthetic opioids are sold before existing enforcement mechanisms can keep pace. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) took temporary action to schedule certain synthetic substances, but those measures are limited and do not provide a permanent framework for addressing new compounds as they emerge.
The bill’s cosponsors argue there is a distinction between synthetic kratom and naturally-occurring kratom; they say that the former is addictive, and potentially fatal, whereas the latter is not. The legislation comes after two separate high-profile instances at Ole Miss in which synthetic kratom was found on-site where two students were found dead; the causes of death have yet to be disclosed.
