II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 878 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled Substances 

Import and Export Act to modify the offenses relating to fentanyl, 

and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 21, 2023 

Mr. KENNEDY (for himself, Mr. COTTON, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. CRUZ, and Mrs. 

BRITT) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To amend the Controlled Substances Act and the Controlled 

Substances Import and Export Act to modify the offenses relating to fentanyl, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fairness in Fentanyl 

5 Sentencing Act of 2023’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT AMENDMENTS. 

7 Section 401(b)(1) of the Controlled Substances Act 

8 (21 U.S.C. 841(b)(1)) is amended— 

9 (1) in subparagraph (A)(vi)— 


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1 (A) by striking ‘‘400’’ and inserting ‘‘20’’; 

2 (B) by striking ‘‘100’’ and inserting ‘‘5’’; 

3 and 

4 (C) by inserting ‘‘scheduled or unsched5 uled’’ before ‘‘analogue of’’; and 

6 (2) in subparagraph (B)(vi)— 

7 (A) by striking ‘‘40’’ and inserting ‘‘2’’; 

8 (B) by striking ‘‘10’’ and inserting ‘‘0.5’’; 

9 and 

10 (C) by inserting ‘‘scheduled or unsched11 uled’’ before ‘‘analogue of’’. 

12 SEC. 3. CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IMPORT AND EXPORT 

13 ACT AMENDMENTS. 

14 Section 1010(b) of the Controlled Substances Import 

15 and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960(b)) is amended— 

16 (1) in paragraph (1)(F)— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘400’’ and inserting ‘‘20’’; 

18 (B) by striking ‘‘100’’ and inserting ‘‘5’’; 

19 and 

20 (C) by inserting ‘‘scheduled or unsched21 uled’’ before ‘‘analogue of’’; and 

22 (2) in paragraph (2)(F)— 

23 (A) by striking ‘‘40’’ and inserting ‘‘2’’; 

24 (B) by striking ‘‘10’’ and inserting ‘‘0.5’’; 

25 and 


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1 (C) by inserting ‘‘scheduled or unsched2 uled’’ before ‘‘analogue of’’. 

3 SEC. 4. DIRECTIVE TO THE SENTENCING COMMISSION. 

4 (a) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘Commis5 sion’’ means the United States Sentencing Commission. 

6 (b) DIRECTIVE TO THE UNITED STATES SEN7 TENCING COMMISSION.—Pursuant to the authority of the 

8 Commission under section 994(p) of title 28, United 

9 States Code, and in accordance with this section, the Com10 mission shall review and amend, if appropriate, the guide11 lines and policy statements of the Commission applicable 

12 to a person convicted of an offense under section 401 of 

13 the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 841) or section 

14 1010 of the Controlled Substances Import and Export Act 

15 (21 U.S.C. 960) to ensure that the guidelines and policy 

16 statements are consistent with the amendments made by 

17 sections 2 and 3 of this Act. 

18 (c) EMERGENCY AUTHORITY.—The Commission 

19 shall— 

20 (1) promulgate the guidelines, policy state21 ments, or amendments provided for in this Act as 

22 soon as practicable, and in any event not later than 

23 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, in 

24 accordance with the procedure set forth in section 

25 21(a) of the Sentencing Act of 1987 (28 U.S.C. 994 


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1 note), as though the authority under that Act had 

2 not expired; and 

3 (2) pursuant to the emergency authority pro4 vided under paragraph (1), make such conforming 

5 amendments to the Federal sentencing guidelines as 

6 the Commission determines necessary to achieve 

7 consistency with other guideline provisions and ap8 plicable law. 

9 SEC. 5. INTERDICTION OF FENTANYL, OTHER SYNTHETIC 

10 OPIOIDS, AND OTHER NARCOTICS AND 

11 PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 

13 (1) the term ‘‘chemical screening device’’ means 

14 an immunoassay, narcotics field test kit, infrared 

15 spectrophotometer, mass spectrometer, nuclear mag16 netic resonance spectrometer, Raman spectrophoto17 meter, or other scientific instrumentation able to col18 lect data that can be interpreted to determine the 

19 presence of fentanyl, other synthetic opioids, and 

20 other narcotics and psychoactive substances; 

21 (2) the term ‘‘express consignment operator or 

22 carrier’’ has the meaning given the term in section 

23 128.1 of title 19, Code of Federal Regulations, or 

24 any successor thereto; and 


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1 (3) the term ‘‘Postmaster General’’ means the 

2 Postmaster General of the United States Postal 

3 Service. 

4 (b) INTERDICTION OF FENTANYL, OTHER SYN5 THETIC OPIOIDS, AND OTHER NARCOTICS AND

6 PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES.— 

7 (1) CHEMICAL SCREENING DEVICES.—The 

8 Postmaster General shall— 

9 (A) increase the number of chemical 

10 screening devices that are available to the 

11 United States Postal Service; and 

12 (B) make additional chemical screening de13 vices available to the United States Postal Serv14 ice as the Postmaster General determines are 

15 necessary to interdict fentanyl, other synthetic 

16 opioids, and other narcotics and psychoactive 

17 substances that are illegally imported into the 

18 United States, including such substances that 

19 are imported through the mail or by an express 

20 consignment operator or carrier. 

21 (2) PERSONNEL TO INTERPRET DATA.—The 

22 Postmaster General shall dedicate the appropriate 

23 number of personnel of the United States Postal 

24 Service, including scientists, so that those personnel 


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1 are available during all operational hours to inter2 pret data collected by chemical screening devices. 

3 (c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

4 authorized to be appropriated to the Postmaster General 

5 $9,000,000 to ensure that the United States Postal Serv6 ice has resources, including chemical screening devices, 

7 personnel, and scientists, available during all operational 

8 hours to prevent, detect, and interdict the unlawful impor9 tation of fentanyl, other synthetic opioids, and other nar10 cotics and psychoactive substances. 

Æ 


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