WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senators Kamala D. Harris (D-CA), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mike Lee (R-UT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), and Cory Booker (D-NJ), all members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, sent a bipartisan letter to Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar about their concerns that the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Department of Justice (DOJ) have not adequately consulted with public health agencies in connection with the Trump Administration’s recent request that Congress legislatively place all “fentanyl-related” substances into Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA).
“We are concerned that the failure to engage necessary health experts vests far too much authority to a law-enforcement agency and may result in action that will deter valid, critical medical research aimed at responses to the opioid crisis, including efforts to identify antidotes to fentanyl-analogue overdoses and improved treatment options. We are also concerned that by sweeping a broad set of substances onto Schedule 1, with no scientific consultation, we risk erecting unnecessary research barriers to drugs that may have great potential to society, and criminalizing substances that have no psychotropic effects,” the Senators wrote.
Filed under: General Problems
IF…..the dems were “smart”, they could pick up a few MILLION votes by stopping the persecution of pain management patients! SAME applies to the conservatives however, neither side of the aisle gives a damn about spending money to stop the senseless persecution.