III 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 79 

Expressing support for the designation of February 26, 2023, to March 

4, 2023, as ‘‘National Fentanyl Awareness Week’’ and raising awareness 

of the negative impacts of fentanyl in the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 27, 2023 

Mr. SCOTT of Florida submitted the following resolution; which was referred 

to the Committee on the Judiciary 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for the designation of February 26, 

2023, to March 4, 2023, as ‘‘National Fentanyl Awareness Week’’ and raising awareness of the negative impacts of fentanyl in the United States. 

Whereas, as of August 2022, drug overdoses during the previous 12 months claimed a reported 101,552 lives in the 

United States; 

Whereas countless families in the United States are now facing the unimaginable pain of losing a child, mother, father, sibling, or loved one taken by deadly, illegal 

fentanyl; 

Whereas the life expectancy in the United States has dropped 

to its lowest point in 2 decades, in part because of street 

drugs like fentanyl; 


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2 

•SRES 79 IS 

Whereas fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin, and 

is considered the deadliest drug threat in the United 

States; 

Whereas drug traffickers use illicit fentanyl to produce fake 

and counterfeit pills; 

Whereas drug traffickers are using fentanyl-laced fake and 

counterfeit pills to exploit the opioid crisis in the United 

States; 

Whereas those illicit drugs are primarily made in secret factories in Mexico with chemicals mostly from China; 

Whereas, without laboratory testing, there is no safe way to 

know how much fentanyl is concentrated in a pill or powder; 

Whereas the Drug Enforcement Agency has issued warnings 

about brightly colored fentanyl-laced pills being used to 

target young individuals in the United States; 

Whereas less than 2 milligrams is considered a deadly dose 

of fentanyl; 

Whereas the Drug Enforcement Agency announced that in 

2022 alone, the Drug Enforcement Agency seized over 

379,000,000 doses of potentially deadly fentanyl, enough 

to kill every individual in the United States, which included— 

(1) more than 50,600,000 fentanyl-laced pills; and 

(2) 10,000 pounds of fentanyl powder; 

Whereas U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more 

than 17,000 pounds of fentanyl in fiscal year 2022; 

Whereas fentanyl has also been found in street drugs such 

as cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine; and 


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3 

•SRES 79 IS 

Whereas, according to data from the Centers for Disease 

Control and Prevention, fentanyl-related poisonings are 

currently the leading cause of death for individuals in the 

United States ages 18 to 49: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) applauds the work of Federal, State, and 

3 local law enforcement agencies for their work in 

4 combating the fentanyl crisis; 

5 (2) applauds the work of treatment and recov6 ery organizations that help individuals with sub7 stance use disorder; 

8 (3) encourages all individuals to only use medi9 cation prescribed by their physician; 

10 (4) encourages individuals suffering from sub11 stance use disorder to seek assistance; and 

12 (5) designates February 26, 2023, through 

13 March 4, 2023, as ‘‘National Fentanyl Awareness 

14 Week’’. 

Æ 


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