Ending fentanyl is not just the mission of Nevada’s local and state leaders. It is now the name of a new federal law brought by Senator Jacky Rosen, Democrat from Nevada.
President Biden signed ‘Eradicating Narcotic Drugs and Formulating Effective New Tools to Address National Yearly Losses of Life, or ‘END FENTANYL’ into law last week.
Rosen says the bill requires U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to update its policies and procedures on intercepting drugs, which she says are outdated.
“Fentanyl has fueled a crisis all throughout Nevada, and all throughout the country,” she said at a roundtable in Reno on Tuesday.
At her side, Reno Police Chief Kathryn Nance and Fire Chief Dave Cochran said that first responders have felt firsthand the local impacts of fentanyl overdoses and deaths.
Cochran described illicit drugs as a phenomenon that tends to come in waves.
“A lot of times those drugs, the impacts and the effects it has on people become more severe, become more deadly, and that’s where we are with fentanyl right now,” he said.
Nance added that, in total, RPD has seized four pounds of fentanyl, an amount worth hundreds of lethal doses.
She said that she sees the value in END FENTANYL not just because it stops illicit drugs from entering Nevada, but because she knows firsthand the value of updated policies and procedures for law enforcement in the field.
“What can they do? What are they allowed to do? What are they expected to do? And if we’re not updating those frequently so that they understand how to work, it’s a disservice to our officers that are on the line,” she said.
The cause has also drawn the support of a local mother, who turned to activism after a fentanyl overdose touched her family. Darcy Patterson, founder of Wake Up Nevada, told Rosen that her daughter died of an overdose in 2017.
“I don’t want anybody else to feel like I feel,” Patterson said. “No one, no one wants – it’s unnatural for your child to die before you.”
Rosen said now that END FENTANYL is law, her next steps are to continue to bring and back bills that would increase funding for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to update the equipment they use to catch drug smuggling.
