Sec. 3. Findings
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Congress finds the following: The opioid epidemic has led to a rise in overdose deaths across the Nation. In 2017, the number of overdose deaths involving opioids, including fentanyl, was six times higher than in 1999. The age-adjusted rate of drug overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids other than methadone increased by 10 percent from 2017 to 2018. The COVID–19 pandemic has been associated with substance use. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 13 percent of surveyed adults had started or increased substance use to cope with stress or emotions related to COVID–19.
Federal agencies, along with Federal, State, and local lawmakers, have worked together to respond to the rise in overdose deaths through increased funding and targeted policy initiatives. This includes the successful passage of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA), the 21st Century Cures Act, and the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (SUPPORT for Patient and Communities Act). These efforts have helped prevent, treat, and combat the opioid epidemic, but the rise in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl means that not all communities are seeing a reduction in fatalities.
Drug overdose deaths in the United States involving fentanyl have risen from 2011 through 2016, growing from 1,600 fentanyl overdose related deaths in 2011 and 2012 to 18,000 deaths in 2016. This rise in fentanyl overdose related deaths has disproportionately impacted communities of color. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), drug overdose death rates involving fentanyl for non-Hispanic African Americans had the largest annual percentage increase from 2011 to 2016 at 140.6 percent per year, followed by Hispanic persons at 118.3 percent per year.
Fentanyl-involved overdose rates for non-Hispanic White persons increased by 108.8 percent from 2013 to 2016. According to the CDC, rates of drug overdose deaths involving fentanyl increased exponentially from 2011 through 2016 for most regions of the United States. Fentanyl is increasingly being identified in nonopioid substances, like methamphetamine and cocaine. By 2017, over half of heroin and cocaine overdose death records involved synthetic opioids. Previous policies to counter the widespread use of illicit substances through tougher sentencing guidelines disproportionately impact communities of color.
There is a growing need for a comprehensive plan focused on monitoring, researching, treating, and preventing fentanyl overdose deaths. Taking a public health approach to reversing overdose death trends and promoting equity should emphasize increasing research and expanding access to treatment.