Brown, Portman Supported Each Other’s Bills to Block Deadly Drugs from Reaching Ohio Communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. –Today, U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) applauded the expected Senate passage of Sen. Portman’s (R-OH) Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act, which Brown cosponsored. The STOP Act will work together with Brown’s INTERDICT Act, which Portman supported, to stop deadly drugs from reaching Ohio communities. Brown’s INTERDICT Act was signed into law by President Trump in March. The Senate is set to pass Portman’s STOP Act tonight as part of a broader addiction legislative package, which will be reconciled with a package of House bills also related to the addiction epidemic.
“The addiction epidemic has taken too many lives and caused too much devastation in Ohio to become a partisan issue,” said Brown. “I’m proud Sen. Portman and I are able to work together to get significant, bipartisan legislation signed into law to stop dangerous drugs at the border and keep them out of Ohio communities.”
The STOP Act will require specific information about packages and shipments coming into the U.S. from foreign countries to help Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) better identify packages that may contain deadly, dangerous drugs like fentanyl.
The INTERDICT Act provided new screening devices, laboratory equipment, facilities, and personnel for 24×7 lab support for CBP agents to safely test those packages.
Several state and national law enforcement organizations have endorsed both bills.