Rep. Keating is a member of both the Congressional Addiction, Treatment, and Recovery Caucus, and the Bipartisan Heroin Task Force.

The Washington Post and “60 Minutes” jointly reported earlier this week that last year Congress helped derail the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s ability to keep addictive opioids off US streets. Their report followed an interview with Joseph T. Rannazzisi, who ran the DEA’s Office of Diversion Control, the division that regulates and investigates the pharmaceutical industry.

Mr. Rannazzisi told “60 Minutes” that Congress, lobbyists and the drug distribution industry helped allow the spread of hundreds of millions of pills to “rogue pharmacies” and pain clinics.

A handful of members of Congress, The Washington Post said, “prevailed upon the DEA and the Justice Department to agree to a more industry-friendly law, undermining efforts to stanch the flow of pain pills.” The DEA had long opposed the effort.

A chief advocate of the law was Rep. Thomas Marino, a Republican from Pennsylvania whom President Donald J. Trump had nominated as the nation’s next drug czar.

The president announced Monday that Rep. Marino had withdrawn his name from consideration for the position.

“Recent media reports have shown the law severely impeded the DEA’s ability to suspend opioid distributions when the agency detected suspicious activity, allowing an oversupply of opioids in the marketplace,” he said.

Rep. Keating’s legislation, the release said, “would help restore the effectiveness of the DEA’s efforts to protect the members of our communities at risk of overdose from prescription opioids.”

“We are in the throes of an epidemic, and we need every tool available at our disposal,” Rep. Keating said. “We cannot be making it unnecessarily harder for our law enforcement agencies to do their job.”

Congress normally passed 200-400 new bills every  year and when is the last time that anyone heard of Congress REPEALING a law that they have passed in the previous Congressional session.

When is the last time that you are told about a very antiquated law on the books that is no longer appropriate and no longer enforced… BUT… there is never a consideration on repealing those antiquated laws ?

With reports coming out that legal opiate prescriptions have been declining since 2012 and recent data on OD’s continue to increase and in some areas illegal opiates are found in up to 99% of the toxicology of those who OD’d.

It would appear that the legal distribution channel(s) of prescription opiates are not part of the current problem…BUT… there is more money to be had by the DEA from that group of DEA licensees…

Has anyone noticed that the Pharmas and pharmacy wholesalers… never had assets seized… none are put out of business … no exec of these corporations every go to jail… the DEA just fine the crap out of them…  The same thing happens with the chain pharmacy industry..

HOWEVER, when they go after a prescriber or independent pharmacy… they PUT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS… seize all their assets and the individual goes to JAIL for sometimes DECADES…

There is little/no money for the DEA – and more likely to be shot at — by going after drug cartel and seizing illegal substances.

My money is on that  Rep Keating being an ATTORNEY – part of the judicial system – doesn’t want his fellow “fraternal brothers and sisters” and our judicial system to be at risk of losing some of their budgets and the number of employees gets reduced.  We may also find out that Rep Keating has a family member or friend or some friend with a family member that has been caught up in the opiate crisis because they suffer from mental health issues.