Support Urgent and Increased Federal Enforcement and Public Health Interventions to Address the Fentanyl Crisis
Adopted at the 91st Annual Meeting in 2023
WHEREAS, the potency of fentanyl is up to 50 times more powerful than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine. That potency makes fentanyl a highly addictive and deadly substance; and
WHEREAS, illicit synthetic opioids like fentanyl and its analogues are the drugs most responsible for killing Americans as a result of overdose deaths; and
WHEREAS, these drugs are easier to produce and transport and also significantly more lethal than drugs such as heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine; and
WHEREAS, fentanyl is primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, and is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market; and
WHEREAS, in the United States, fentanyl is distributed through networks of drug trafficking organizations. The number of fentanyl trafficking offenders have increased by 950% over the last four years; and
WHEREAS, drug trafficking organizations typically distribute fentanyl by the kilogram. One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people; and
WHEREAS, just a small amount of fentanyl is deadly – 2 milligrams, or the equivalent to a few grains of salt, is enough to kill a person; and
WHEREAS, drug trafficking is inextricably linked with violence; and
WHEREAS, other powerful, Narcan-resistant synthetic drugs are also entering the drug supply, such as the animal tranquilizer xylazine mixed with fentanyl, also known as "tranq;" and
WHEREAS, with the proliferation of fentanyl and the introduction of Narcan-resistant drugs like tranq beginning to appear in the West Coast, public health officials have serious concerns that communities may experience an increase in the rate of overdoses nationwide; and
WHEREAS, the fentanyl epidemic is a public health crisis: in 2021, 107,375 people died of drug overdose in the United States, the most ever recorded; and
WHEREAS, fentanyl is the primary driver in this alarming increase in overdose deaths, with more than two-thirds, or 70,000, of those deaths involving synthetic opioids; and
WHEREAS, synthetic opioids like fentanyl are now the leading cause of death among people ages 18 to 45, demonstrating the severity of the public health crisis; and
WHEREAS, for example, from January 2020 through December 2020, more than twice as many people died from accidental drug overdoses than from COVID-19 in San Francisco, California.
WHEREAS, drug overdose data show troubling trends and widening disparities between different population groups; and
WHEREAS, in 2021, overall drug overdose rates were highest among Black men and American Indian or Alaska Native Men, and fentanyl-involved deaths rates were highest among Black men; and
WHEREAS, the increasing prevalence of fentanyl and opioids has contributed to the growing number of opioid use disorders in the United States; and
WHEREAS, opioid use disorders affect over 2.1 million people in the United States; and
WHEREAS, it is important to provide treatment for people struggling with opioid use disorder to prevent overdose or even death; and
WHEREAS, substance use treatments have proven to be effective, including residential treatment programs and medications to treat opioid use disorder; and
WHEREAS, people are not currently able to get the addiction care they need, with fewer than 1 in 10 people able to access care to treat their substance use disorder; and
WHEREAS, drug traffickers are using fake pills to exploit the opioid crisis and prescription drug misuse; and
WHEREAS, fentanyl is increasingly prevalent in counterfeit prescription medications and laced in other drugs, with the DEA estimating that 6 out of 10 counterfeit pills contain a potentially lethal dose of fentanyl; and
WHEREAS, counterfeit pills have been identified in all 50 states and the District of Columbia; and
WHEREAS, fake prescription pills are easily accessible and often sold on social media and e-commerce platforms, making them available to anyone with a smartphone, including minors; and
WHEREAS, the Biden Administration has announced a strategy to crack down on illicit fentanyl supply chains; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. DEA is attempting to stem the flow of drugs into our communities. Last year, the DEA seized more than 50 million fentanyl-laced pills and more than 13,000 pounds of fentanyl powder -- enough to kill every resident of the United States; and
WHEREAS, last year, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 14,700 pounds of fentanyl, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations seized more than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl, and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)'s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program reported seizures of more than 26,000 pounds of fentanyl; and
WHEREAS, traffickers are continually altering the chemical structure of fentanyl to evade regulation and prosecution under the Analogue Act; and
WHEREAS, Congress temporarily closed this loophole by making all fentanyl-related substances Schedule I; however, this measure expires on December 31, 2024; and
WHEREAS, despite these ongoing enforcement actions, fentanyl and illegal drug dealing remain prevalent throughout the United States; and
WHEREAS, local governments have been working independently and in coordination with federal agencies to arrest and prosecute drug traffickers and dealers; and
WHEREAS, those local efforts are currently outmatched by the scale of the current international, organized crime operations that are funneling fentanyl into our communities; and
WHEREAS, cities need comprehensive, ongoing action from the federal Administration to arrest and prosecute drug dealers to put an end to the dangerous and deadly open-air drug dealing on our streets; and
WHEREAS, with the help of the federal government, cities and mayors can save lives and ensure our residents, families, and workers feel safe in their neighborhoods,
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors strongly urges the Biden Administration to act immediately and increase its enforcement and prosecution of high-level fentanyl drug traffickers and dealers in communities throughout the country. It is imperative that the federal government increase its collaboration with local authorities to combat drug trafficking and dealing, and form joint investigations with local law enforcement to pursue these traffickers and dealers; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors strongly urges the Biden Administration to significantly increase its public communications that our neighborhoods and commercial areas must be drug-free and safe from any open-air drug markets, including online and social media sales of drugs to the general public; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that The United States Conference of Mayors supports the Biden Administration in calling on Congress to permanently schedule all illicitly produced fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I and to take other complementary actions to enhance public health and public safety, consistent with the comprehensive proposal developed jointly in 2021 by the Department of Justice, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Office of National Drug Control Policy; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that United States Conference of Mayors strongly urges Congress and the Biden Administration, through legislation and regulatory measures, to increase access to a spectrum of public health interventions, including harm reduction services and substance use disorder treatment, and drug testing to improve surveillance of and response to a rapidly changing drug supply, including track-and-trace of biopharmaceuticals at risk of contamination.