II 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2008 

To combat the opioid epidemic and drug sample backlogs. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

OCTOBER 25, 2017 

Mrs. SHAHEEN (for herself and Ms. HASSAN) introduced the following bill; 

which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary 

A BILL 

To combat the opioid epidemic and drug sample backlogs. 

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 ‘‘Combating the Opioid 

5 Epidemic Through Forensic Drug Testing Act of 2017’’. 

6 SEC. 2. CONFRONTING THE USE OF HEROIN AND ASSOCI7 ATED DRUGS. 

8 Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe 

9 Streets Act of 1968 (34 U.S.C. 10101 et seq.) is amended 

10 by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘PART LL—CONFRONTING THE USE OF HEROIN 

2 AND ASSOCIATED DRUGS 

3 ‘‘SEC. 3021. AUTHORITY TO MAKE GRANTS TO ADDRESS 

4 PUBLIC SAFETY AND HEROIN DISTRIBUTION, 

5 SALE, AND USE. 

6 ‘‘(a) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this section is to as7 sist States and Indian tribes to— 

8 ‘‘(1) carry out programs to address the dis9 tribution, sale, and use of heroin, fentanyl, and asso10 ciated synthetic drugs; and 

11 ‘‘(2) improve the ability of State, tribal, and 

12 local government institutions to carry out such pro13 grams. 

14 ‘‘(b) GRANT AUTHORIZATION.—The Attorney Gen15 eral, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance, may make 

16 grants to States to address the distribution, sale, and use 

17 of heroin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs to en18 hance public safety. 

19 ‘‘(c) GRANT PROJECTS TO ADDRESS DISTRIBUTION, 

20 SALE, AND USE OF HEROIN, FENTANYL, AND ASSOCI21 ATED SYNTHETIC DRUGS.—Grants made under sub22 section (b) may be used for programs, projects, and other 

23 activities to— 

24 ‘‘(1) reimburse State, local, or other forensic 

25 science laboratories and medical examiner and cor26 oner offices to— 


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1 ‘‘(A) help address backlogs of untested 

2 samples of heroin, fentanyl, and associated syn3 thetic drugs; and 

4 ‘‘(B) conduct autopsies and toxicology test5 ing related to drug overdose deaths from sus6 pected heroin, fentanyl, and associated syn7 thetic drugs; 

8 ‘‘(2) reimburse State, local, or other forensic 

9 science laboratories and medical examiner and cor10 oner offices for procuring equipment, technology, or 

11 other support systems if the applicant for the grant 

12 demonstrates to the satisfaction of the Attorney 

13 General that expenditures for such purposes would 

14 result in improved efficiency of laboratory testing 

15 and help prevent future backlogs; 

16 ‘‘(3) reimburse State, tribal, and local law en17 forcement agencies for procuring field-testing equip18 ment for use in the identification or detection of her19 oin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs; 

20 ‘‘(4) investigate, arrest, and prosecute individ21 uals violating laws related to the distribution or sale 

22 of heroin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs; 

23 and 


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1 ‘‘(5) support State, tribal, and local health de2 partment services deployed to address the use of 

3 heroin, fentanyl, and associated synthetic drugs. 

4 ‘‘(d) LIMITATION.—Not less than 60 percent of the 

5 amounts made available to carry out this section shall be 

6 awarded for the purposes under paragraph (1) or (2) of 

7 subsection (c). 

8 ‘‘(e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

9 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

10 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018, 2019, and 

11 2020. 

12 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION.— 

13 ‘‘(1) POPULATION ALLOCATION.—Seventy-five 

14 percent of the amount made available to carry out 

15 this section in a fiscal year shall be allocated to each 

16 State that meets the requirements of section 2802 

17 so that each State shall receive an amount that 

18 bears the same ratio to the 75 percent of the total 

19 amount made available to carry out this section for 

20 that fiscal year as the population of the State bears 

21 to the population of all States. 

22 ‘‘(2) DISCRETIONARY ALLOCATION.— 

23 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Twenty-five percent of 

24 the amount made available to carry out this 

25 section in a fiscal year shall be allocated pursuVerDate Sep 11 2014 23:35 Oct 26, 2017 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2008.IS S2008

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1 ant to the discretion of the Attorney General 

2 for competitive grants to States with high rates 

3 of primary treatment admissions for heroin and 

4 other opioids, for use by State law enforcement 

5 agencies. 

6 ‘‘(B) CONSIDERATIONS.—In making 

7 grants under subparagraph (A), the Attorney 

8 General shall consider— 

9 ‘‘(i) the average annual number of 

10 part 1 violent crimes reported by each 

11 State to the Federal Bureau of Investiga12 tion for the 3 most recent calendar years 

13 for which data is available; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) the existing resources and cur15 rent needs of the potential grant recipient. 

16 ‘‘(3) MINIMUM REQUIREMENT.—Each State 

17 shall receive not less than 0.6 percent of the amount 

18 made available to carry out this section in each fis19 cal year. 

20 ‘‘(4) CERTAIN TERRITORIES.— 

21 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of the 

22 allocation under this section, American Samoa 

23 and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mar24 iana Islands shall be considered as 1 State. 


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1 ‘‘(B) ALLOCATION AMONGST CERTAIN TER2 RITORIES.—For purposes of subparagraph (A), 

3 67 percent of the amount allocated shall be al4 located to American Samoa and 33 percent 

5 shall be allocated to the Commonwealth of the 

6 Northern Mariana Islands.’’. 

Æ 


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