**Kuster is founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force**

Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02), founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force, voted in favor of the bipartisan Extending Temporary 5 Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act. This legislation will extend the Drug Enforcement Agency’s (DEA) temporary order placing fentanyl-related substances in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, a designation reserved for substances that have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.

“Fentanyl is killing people in New Hampshire and across the country,” said Rep. Kuster. “Communities throughout our state have been devastated by the opioid epidemic and we know that synthetic opioids such as fentanyl are central to fueling this deadly crisis. This temporary extension will support ongoing efforts — like my legislation the Support, Treatment, and Overdose Prevention of (S.T.O.P) Fentanyl Act of 2021 — to help ensure law enforcement is equipped with the tools they need to keep our communities safe and hold distributors accountable while we work to put permanent, preventative measures in place to stop discriminatory policies and end this crisis once and for all.”

Founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force, Rep. Kuster is a leader in Congress in the effort to end the opioid epidemic. This month, Kuster introduced comprehensive legislation to respond to the proliferation of synthetic opioids and provide a long-term solution to the constantly evolving addiction epidemic. Earlier this year, Kuster led 80 lawmakers in a letter to congressional leadership urging the inclusion of $10 billion in funding for mental health disorder and substance use disorder prevention and treatment. 

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