Washington, D.C. — Today, Rep. Annie Kuster (NH-02), founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force, urged passage of her bipartisan legislation, the Support, Treatment, and Overdose Prevention of (S.T.O.P.) Fentanyl Act of 2021 during an Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing entitled, “The Overdose Crisis: Interagency Proposal to Combat Illicit Fentanyl-Related Substances.” Members heard from public health, law enforcement, and addiction experts about the Biden administration’s approach to the overdose crisis. During the hearing, Rep. Kuster questioned witnesses on access to and affordability of the life-saving overdose reversal drug Naloxone.

“In New Hampshire, we saw very early on the devastation of this addiction epidemic for Granite State families and communities,” said Rep. Kuster. “Today, this crisis continues to evolve with more dangerous synthetic opioids like fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances being laced into other drugs, often unbeknownst to the person struggling with addiction. That’s why I’m proud to be the founder and co-chair of the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force and to advance legislation like my STOP Fentanyl Act to curb the overdose crisis and hold illicit drug distributors accountable. Congress must step up and do more to end this epidemic before it’s too late.”

Specifically, the STOP Fentanyl Act would:

• Expand Fentanyl Research and Education: Enhances the public health surveillance of fentanyl-related substances, improves efforts to better detect and share data on fentanyl, and pursues more effective Substance Use Disorder (SUD) treatment programs.
• Enhance Overdose Prevention: Reports on evidence-based interventions to reduce overdose deaths, improves access to opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone, establishes Federal Good Samaritan immunity protections for individuals providing care to someone who is overdosing.
• Support Substance Use Disorder Treatment Programs: Removes barriers and expands access to Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT), maintains enhanced telehealth access to opioid use disorder treatment, helps state and community-based organizations address the harms of drug misuse, and funds education for stakeholders on evidence-based treatment for opioid and fentanyl misuse.
• Provide Public Health Data and Training Support: Expands access to public health training for law enforcement handling fentanyl-related substances, examines which countries are producing synthetic drugs, and supports public health surveillance at forensic laboratories.

This legislation received the support of over 150 advocacy groups and public health professionals and is included in the Bipartisan Addiction and Mental Health Task Force’s 2021 Legislative Agenda.

The 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. Earlier this year, Rep. Kuster joined her colleague Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (DE-AL) to introduce the STOP Fentanyl Act. The Support, Treatment, and Overdose Prevention of (S.T.O.P.) Fentanyl Act of 2021 will bolster surveillance and research, deploy resources to combat overdose deaths, connect individuals with treatment programs, and support ongoing prevention and public safety activities. 

###