Joyce chairs fentanyl talks

Roundtable a signal for push to make fentanyl analogue tag permanent

U.S. Rep. John Joyce, R-13th District, Wednesday led the first step toward making all analogue fentanyl drugs Schedule 1 narcotics.

Joyce was joined by the parents of a man from Shippensburg, who died recently from ingesting fentanyl, as he chaired a roundtable discussion among Republicans on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce about fentanyl.

Zachary Cullen was not an addict, according to his mother, Deb.

He was simply out drinking at bars in Harrisburg with friends to celebrate a birthday, got intoxicated and bought cocaine from a dealer who had probably "targeted" his group, according to Deb.

The cocaine contained fentanyl, which killed him.

His death was more poisoning than overdose, Deb said.

Just 2 milligrams, an "amount that fits on the tip of a pin" can be lethal, according to a Justice Department report. It's 50 times more potent than heroin.

Prosecuting fentanyl cases can be complicated as cartel-based manufacturers tweak the chemical compound so although it acts the same, defense attorneys can argue it's chemically not fentanyl.

It will work much better in the long run to bring the whole class of fentanyl drugs under Schedule 1 zone permanently, according to Wisconsin emergency room doctor Timothy Westlake, a roundtable panelist. He helped introduce the class-based concept for fentanyl in his state in 2017 -- after which it was adopted by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Westlake held up a packet of sugar at the roundtable.

If the contents were fentanyl, it could kill 2,000 people, he said.

There were 107,000 overdose deaths in the U.S. last year, the majority involving fentanyl, according to roundtable participants.

Since their son's death, the Cullens have been working to make others aware of the dangers, said Zachary's father, Ray.

Much of the fentanyl ends up in fake prescription pills, according to panelist Paul Knierim, former assistant administrator and chief of intelligence for the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Six out of 10 such pills nowadays contain fentanyl, he said.

They're easy to buy and widely available, including through ecommerce sites and social media, he said.

The only pills to trust are ones supplied by medical professionals, he stated.

The temporary scheduling that has been renewed for five years now has shown that making the scheduling permanent would work, according to Westlake.

Since 2018, the federal government has relied on oft-renewed temporary laws to classify fentanyl-like substances as Schedule 1 drugs under the Controlled Substances Act.

Scheduling on the basis of the fentanyl class works because it removes the incentive for creating new substances, Westlake said.

Prior to scheduling, the authorities were condemned to "whack-a-mole" identification and scheduling for each new product that the clever chemists working for the cartels produced, according to Westlake.

Prosecutors could still make a case in those circumstances, under the 1986 "Analogue Act," but it was complicated, cumbersome and less certain to yield good results, according to a Justice Department report.

While there has been bipartisan support, there have been concerns that making the class designation permanent would lead to more mandatory sentencing.

But that hasn't been the case under the temporary designations.

There have also been concerns that putting fentanyl related substances under Schedule 1 would hinder research.

Moreover, the main agencies and organizations representing academic and scientific research on the subject have signed off, Westlake said, citing the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the Department of Health and Human Services

There are actually only about 30 individuals who are certified to do research on fentanyl anyway, he said.

The worries about research are "purely theoretical," he said.

There have also been claims that someone could create a harmless drug from the fentanyl "platform" that would then be made illegal unnecessarily.

But all fentanyl-based drugs are bioactive, Westlake said.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.