II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1235 

To establish an awareness campaign related to the lethality of fentanyl and 

fentanyl-contaminated drugs, to establish a Federal Interagency Work 

Group on Fentanyl Contamination of Illegal Drugs, and to provide community-based coalition enhancement grants to mitigate the effects of 

drug misuse. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

APRIL 20, 2023 

Ms. MURKOWSKI (for herself, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. SULLIVAN, Ms. HASSAN, 

and Ms. BALDWIN) introduced the following bill; which was read twice 

and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To establish an awareness campaign related to the lethality 

of fentanyl and fentanyl-contaminated drugs, to establish 

a Federal Interagency Work Group on Fentanyl Contamination of Illegal Drugs, and to provide communitybased coalition enhancement grants to mitigate the effects of drug misuse. 

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 ‘‘Bruce’s Law’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS. 

2 (a) OPIOID PROGRAM.—Section 102 of the Com3 prehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (Public 

4 Law 114–198) is amended— 

5 (1) in the section heading, by inserting ‘‘RE6 LATING TO OPIOIDS’’ after ‘‘CAMPAIGNS’’; and 

7 (2) in subsection (c)— 

8 (A) in paragraph (1), by inserting ‘‘and’’ 

9 after the semicolon; 

10 (B) in paragraph (2)(B), by striking ‘‘; 

11 and’’ and inserting a period; and 

12 (C) by striking paragraph (3). 

13 (b) ADDITIONAL CAMPAIGN.—Title I of the Com14 prehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (Public 

15 Law 114–198) is amended by inserting after section 102 

16 the following: 

17 ‘‘SEC. 102A. AWARENESS CAMPAIGN RELATED TO 

18 LETHALITY OF FENTANYL AND FENTANYL19 CONTAMINATED DRUGS. 

20 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Health and 

21 Human Services, in coordination with the heads of other 

22 Federal departments and agencies, shall, as appropriate, 

23 through a public awareness campaign, advance the edu24 cation and awareness of the public (including school-aged 

25 children, youth, parents, first responders, and providers) 

26 and other appropriate entities regarding the risk of counVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:02 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1235.IS S1235

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1 terfeit drugs being contaminated with fentanyl and the 

2 dangers of fentanyl lethality. 

3 ‘‘(b) TOPICS.—The education and awareness cam4 paigns under subsection (a) shall address— 

5 ‘‘(1) the dangers of using drugs which may be 

6 contaminated with fentanyl; 

7 ‘‘(2) the prevention of drug abuse, including 

8 through safe disposal of prescription medications 

9 and other safety precautions; and 

10 ‘‘(3) the detection of early warning signs of ad11 diction in school-aged children and youth. 

12 ‘‘(c) OTHER REQUIREMENTS.—The education and 

13 awareness campaigns under subsection (a) shall, as appro14 priate, take into account any association between prescrip15 tion drug misuse, heroin use, and drugs contaminated by 

16 fentanyl. 

17 ‘‘(d) DRUG DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

18 ‘drug’ means an illicit drug, such as marijuana, hashish, 

19 cocaine (including crack cocaine), inhalants, 

20 hallucinogens, heroin, a synthetic opioid, methamphet21 amine or other stimulant, a counterfeit prescription drug, 

22 or a prescription drug that is sold illegally. 

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

24 are authorized to be appropriated for fiscal years 2024 


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1 through 2028 such sums as may be necessary to carry 

2 out this section.’’. 

3 SEC. 3. FEDERAL INTERAGENCY WORK GROUP ON 

4 FENTANYL CONTAMINATION OF ILLEGAL 

5 DRUGS. 

6 Title I of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery 

7 Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–198), as amended by section 

8 2(b), is further amended by inserting after section 102A 

9 the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 102B. FEDERAL INTERAGENCY WORK GROUP ON 

11 FENTANYL CONTAMINATION OF ILLEGAL 

12 DRUGS. 

13 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary of Health 

14 and Human Services (referred to in this section as the 

15 ‘Secretary’) shall establish the Federal Interagency Work 

16 Group on Fentanyl Contamination of Illegal Drugs (re17 ferred to in this section as the ‘Work Group’). 

18 ‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP; CONSULTATION.— 

19 ‘‘(1) COMPOSITION.—Not later than 120 days 

20 after the date of enactment of Bruce’s Law, the 

21 heads of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 

22 the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 

23 Administration, the Administration for Children and 

24 Families, the Centers for Disease Control and Pre25 vention, the Department of Justice, the Drug EnVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:02 Apr 22, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1235.IS S1235

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1 forcement Administration, the Department of State, 

2 the Department of Education, and other Federal 

3 agencies (as determined by the Secretary) shall des4 ignate representatives of the respective agency or of5 fice to the Work Group. 

6 ‘‘(2) CONSULTATION.—The Work Group shall 

7 consult with— 

8 ‘‘(A) experts at the State, Tribal, and local 

9 levels with relevant backgrounds in reducing, 

10 preventing, and responding to drug overdose by 

11 fentanyl contamination of illegal drugs; 

12 ‘‘(B) family members of adults who have 

13 overdosed by fentanyl-contaminated illegal 

14 drugs; 

15 ‘‘(C) family members of school-aged chil16 dren and youth who have overdosed by fentanyl17 contaminated illegal drugs; 

18 ‘‘(D) researchers and other experts in the 

19 design and implementation of effective drug-re20 lated messaging and prevention campaigns; and 

21 ‘‘(E) technology companies. 

22 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The Work Group shall— 

23 ‘‘(1) examine all Federal efforts directed to24 wards reducing and preventing drug overdose by 

25 fentanyl-contaminated illegal drugs; 


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1 ‘‘(2) identify strategies, resources, and supports 

2 to improve State, Tribal, and local responses to over3 dose by fentanyl-contaminated illegal drugs; 

4 ‘‘(3) make recommendations to Congress for 

5 improving Federal programs and efforts and coordi6 nation across such programs and efforts to reduce 

7 and prevent drug overdose by fentanyl-contaminated 

8 illegal drugs; and 

9 ‘‘(4) make recommendations for educating 

10 youth on the dangers of drugs contaminated by 

11 fentanyl. 

12 ‘‘(d) ANNUAL REPORT TO SECRETARY.—The Work 

13 Group shall annually prepare and submit to the Secretary, 

14 the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pen15 sions of the Senate, and the Committee on Education and 

16 Labor of the House of Representatives, a report on the 

17 activities carried out by the Work Group under subsection 

18 (c), including recommendations to reduce and prevent 

19 drug overdose by fentanyl contamination of illegal drugs, 

20 in all populations, and specifically among youth at risk 

21 for substance misuse.’’. 

22 SEC. 4. COMMUNITY-BASED COALITION ENHANCEMENT 

23 GRANTS TO ADDRESS LOCAL DRUG CRISES. 

24 Section 103(i) of the Comprehensive Addiction and 

25 Recovery Act of 2016 (21 U.S.C. 1536(i)) is amended by 


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1 striking ‘‘2017 through 2021’’ and inserting ‘‘2023 

2 through 2027’’. 

3 SEC. 5. COMMUNITY-BASED COALITION ENHANCEMENT 

4 GRANTS TO EDUCATE YOUTH ON THE RISKS 

5 OF DRUGS CONTAMINATED WITH FENTANYL 

6 OR OTHER SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS. 

7 Title I of the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery 

8 Act of 2016 (Public Law 114–198) is amended by insert9 ing after section 103 the following: 

10 ‘‘SEC. 103A. COMMUNITY-BASED COALITION ENHANCEMENT 

11 GRANTS TO EDUCATE YOUTH ON THE RISKS 

12 OF DRUGS CONTAMINATED WITH FENTANYL 

13 OR OTHER SYNTHETIC OPIOIDS. 

14 ‘‘(a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Director of the 

15 Office of National Drug Control Policy (referred to in this 

16 section as the ‘Director’), in coordination with the Direc17 tor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

18 may make grants to eligible entities to implement edu19 cation of the public on the dangers of contamination of 

20 drugs with fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. 

21 ‘‘(b) APPLICATION.— 

22 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity seeking a 

23 grant under this section shall submit an application 

24 to the Director at such time, in such manner, and 


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1 accompanied by such information as the Director 

2 may require. 

3 ‘‘(2) CRITERIA.—As part of an application for 

4 a grant under this section, the Director shall require 

5 an eligible entity to submit a detailed, comprehen6 sive, multisector plan for addressing the implementa7 tion of an evidence-based public education campaign 

8 on the dangers of drugs contaminated with fentanyl 

9 or other synthetic opioids, with a specific consider10 ation given to education focused on youth at in11 creased risk for developing a substance use disorder. 

12 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—For purposes of this 

13 section, the term ‘eligible entity’ means an entity 

14 that— 

15 ‘‘(A) has documented, using local data, 

16 rates of drug overdose related to fentanyl or 

17 other synthetic opioids at levels that are signifi18 cant, as determined by the Director; and 

19 ‘‘(B) has received a grant under the Drug20 Free Communities Act of 1997. 

21 ‘‘(c) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible entity shall use a 

22 grant received under this section— 

23 ‘‘(1) for programs designed to implement com24 prehensive community-wide prevention strategies to 

25 address the dangers of drugs contaminated with 


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1 fentanyl or other synthetic opioids, in the area 

2 served by the eligible entity, in accordance with the 

3 plan submitted under subsection (b)(2); 

4 ‘‘(2) to obtain specialized training and technical 

5 assistance from the organization funded under sec6 tion 4 of Public Law 107–82 (21 U.S.C. 1521 note); 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(3) for programs designed to implement com9 prehensive community-wide strategies to address the 

10 dangers of drugs contaminated with fentanyl or 

11 other synthetic opioids in the community. 

12 ‘‘(d) SUPPLEMENT NOT SUPPLANT.—An eligible en13 tity shall use Federal funds received under this section 

14 only to supplement the funds that would, in the absence 

15 of those Federal funds, be made available from other Fed16 eral and non-Federal sources for the activities described 

17 in this section, and not to supplant those funds. 

18 ‘‘(e) EVALUATION.—A grant under this section shall 

19 be subject to the same evaluation requirements and proce20 dures as the evaluation requirements and procedures im21 posed on the recipient of a grant under the Drug-Free 

22 Communities Act of 1997, and may also include an evalua23 tion of the effectiveness at reducing the use of illicit 

24 fentanyl or other synthetic opioids. 


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1 ‘‘(f) LIMITATION ON ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.— 

2 Not more than 12 percent of the amounts made available 

3 to carry out this section for a fiscal year may be used 

4 to pay for administrative expenses. 

5 ‘‘(g) DELEGATION AUTHORITY.—The Director may 

6 enter into an interagency agreement with the Director of 

7 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to dele8 gate authority for the execution of grants and for such 

9 other activities, as the Director determines necessary to 

10 carry out this section. 

11 ‘‘(h) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘drug’ 

12 means an illicit drug, such as marijuana, hashish, cocaine 

13 (including crack cocaine), inhalants, hallucinogens, heroin, 

14 a synthetic opioid, methamphetamine or other stimulant, 

15 a counterfeit prescription drug, or a prescription drug that 

16 is sold illegally. 

17 ‘‘(i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 

18 purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 

19 to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for 

20 each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.’’. 

Æ 


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