I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5580 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct programs to address the usage of illicit drugs, particularly fentanyl, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 23, 2018 

Ms. KUSTER of New Hampshire (for herself, Mr. MACARTHUR, Mr. JENKINS

of West Virginia, and Mr. NORCROSS) introduced the following bill; which 

was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To authorize the Secretary of Health and Human Services 

to conduct programs to address the usage of illicit drugs, 

particularly 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 ‘‘Surveillance and Test5 ing of Opioids to Prevent Fentanyl Deaths Act of 2018’’ 

6 or the ‘‘STOP Fentanyl Deaths Act of 2018’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PUBLIC HEALTH LABORATORIES TO DETECT 

2 FENTANYL. 

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

4 Human Services (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Sec5 retary’’) shall establish a program to award grants to Fed6 eral, State, and local agencies for the establishment or op7 eration of public health laboratories to detect fentanyl, its 

8 analogues, and other synthetic opioids, as described in 

9 subsection (b). 

10 (b) STANDARDS.—The Secretary, acting through the 

11 Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, 

12 and in consultation with the Director of the National In13 stitute of Standards and Technology, shall— 

14 (1) develop standards for effectively handling 

15 and testing fentanyl, its analogues, and other syn16 thetic opioids; and 

17 (2) include in such standards procedures for en18 countering new and emerging synthetic opioid for19 mulations and reporting those findings to other Fed20 eral, State, and local public health laboratories. 

21 (c) LABORATORIES.—Each public health laboratory 

22 funded under subsection (a) shall— 

23 (1) agree to follow the standards established 

24 under subsection (b) and be capable of providing 

25 systematic and routine laboratory testing of drugs 

26 for the purposes of obtaining and disseminating pubVerDate Sep 11 2014 22:45 Apr 25, 2018 Jkt 079200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5580.IH H5580

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1 lic health information to Federal, State, and local 

2 public health officials, laboratories, and other enti3 ties the Secretary deems appropriate; 

4 (2) work with law enforcement agencies and 

5 public health authorities to develop real-time infor6 mation on the purity and movement of fentanyl, its 

7 analogues, and other synthetic opioids; 

8 (3) assist State and local law enforcement agen9 cies in testing seized drugs when State and local fo10 rensic laboratories request additional assistance; and 

11 (4) provide early warning information and ad12 vice to Federal, State, and local law enforcement 

13 agencies and public health authorities of potential 

14 significant changes in the supply of fentanyl, its 

15 analogues, and other synthetic opioids. 

16 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

17 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

18 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022. 

19 SEC. 3. ENHANCED FENTANYL SURVEILLANCE. 

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the Centers for 

21 Disease Control and Prevention shall enhance its drug 

22 surveillance program by— 

23 (1) expanding its surveillance program to in24 clude all 50 States and the territories of the United 

25 States; 


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1 (2) increasing and accelerating the collection of 

2 data on fentanyl, its analogues, and other synthetic 

3 opioids, including related overdose data from medical 

4 examiners and drug treatment admissions; and 

5 (3) utilizing available and emerging information 

6 on fentanyl, its analogues, and other synthetic 

7 opioids, including— 

8 (A) the National Drug Early Warning Sys9 tem; 

10 (B) State and local public health authori11 ties; and 

12 (C) Federal, State, and local public health 

13 laboratories. 

14 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

15 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

16 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022. 

17 SEC. 4. PILOT PROGRAM FOR POINT-OF-USE TESTING OF 

18 ILLICIT DRUGS FOR DANGEROUS CONTAMI19 NANTS. 

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

21 Human Services, acting through the Assistant Secretary 

22 for Mental Health and Substance Use, in coordination 

23 with the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and 

24 Prevention, shall— 


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1 (1) establish a pilot program through which 5 

2 State or local agencies conduct, in 5 States, point3 of-use testing of illicit drugs for dangerous contami4 nants; 

5 (2) establish metrics to evaluate the success of 

6 the pilot program in reducing drug overdose rates; 

7 and 

8 (3) based on such metrics, conduct an annual 

9 evaluation of the pilot program and submit an an10 nual report to the Congress containing the results of 

11 such evaluation. 

12 (b) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—To carry 

13 out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated 

14 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2018 through 2022. 

Æ 


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