The Senate is on track to pass a bill as soon as this week that will make it harder for illegal opioids to be shipped from China to the United States via the U.S. Postal Service.
According to The New York Times, the bill would mandate the Postal Service to collect information about each shipment arriving into the U.S. — information that would allow U.S. Customs agents to screen and search pieces of mail before they reach their final destination.
"We are being overrun with fentanyl," said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, the Times reported. "It is 50 times more powerful than heroin. It is very inexpensive. It is coming primarily from China and coming primarily through our U.S. Postal Service, if you can believe it."
The three other major shipping companies — FedEx, UPS, and DHL — already follow such rules, which has made the Postal Service an avenue for funneling deadly opioids into the U.S.
The bill on the Senate floor is called the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention Act, or the STOP Act. President Donald Trump recently tweeted about the legislation and urged lawmakers to vote for it so he can sign it into law.
"It is outrageous that Poisonous Synthetic Heroin Fentanyl comes pouring into the U.S. Postal System from China," Trump wrote. "We can, and must, END THIS NOW! The Senate should pass the STOP ACT — and firmly STOP this poison from killing our children and destroying our country. No more delay!"
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 63,000 people died in the U.S. of drug overdoses in 2016. The figure increased to more than 72,000 in 2017.
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