© 2024 WSHU
NPR News & Classical Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Sen. Schumer Pushes Bill To Stanch Flow Of Fentanyl Into U.S.

Lynne Sladky
/
AP
U.S. Coast guardsmen offload bales of cocaine and marijuana as part of an estimated $41 million worth of drugs that were interdicted in the Caribbean Sea, at the Coast Guard Base Miami Beach in Miami Beach, Fla., in 2015.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced his support for a bipartisan bill to help cut the flow of fentanyl into Connecticut, Long Island and across the United States.

Senator Schumer will launch a major push for the INTERDICT Act, which would give U.S. Customs and Border Protection high-tech tools to prevent fentanyl and other opioids from entering the country.

“We need to stop it before it comes in. We have these special screening machines and labs that can detect fentanyl.”    

Fentanyl detection machines would be placed along the border and other ports of entry.

Schumer says the new tools will help curb the current opioid crisis around the nation.

Last year, fentanyl overdoses killed over 200 people on Long Island and nearly 500 in Connecticut.