STOP Act would require Postal Service to scan incoming packages from overseas for opioids
<p>252 bipartisan House cosponsors, more than for almost any other bill in recent memory, endorse the STOP Act, which aims to halt opioids like fentanyl from coming into America from other countries.</p>
<h1><strong>Context</strong></h1>
<p>Opioid deaths from overdoses on products such as fentanyl have surged in recent years, with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/02/upshot/fentanyl-drug-overdose-deaths.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">fatalities last year eclipsing the peak year of deaths for car crashes, guns, or AIDS</a>. President Trump in October <a href="https://www.npr.org/2017/10/26/560083795/president-trump-may-declare-opioid-epidemic-national-emergency" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">declared the opioid epidemic an official “public health emergency,” </a>one level below the highest declaration of “national emergency.”</p>
<p>Much of the product arrives in the U.S. through the mail from other nations, <a href="http://www.news-herald.com/general-news/20170207/where-does-fentanyl-come-from-china-is-primary-source-in-us-and-much-is-ending-up-in-ohio" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">primarily China</a> although Mexico and Canada are other large sources.</p>
<p><a href="https://govtrackinsider.com/stop-act-would-require-postal-service-to-scan-incoming-packages-from-overseas-for-opioids-ad5d174ad1a9"><strong>Learn More</strong></a></p>