Attorney General Chris Carr, as part of a bipartisan group of 52 state and territory attorneys general, called on Congress to help end the opioid epidemic and close a loophole that currently allows those who traffic deadly fentanyl to stay a step ahead of law enforcement.

“From 2016 to 2017, there was a 53 percent increase in fentanyl-involved overdose deaths in Georgia,” said Attorney General Chris Carr. “That spike is due in large part to a rise in illicit manufacturing and marketing of deadly fentanyl analogues, and we will continue to do everything we can to support law enforcement officials who are working to divert this illegal drug flow.”

The attorneys general today sent a letter to Congress in support of S. 1553 and H.R. 4922, Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues (SOFA) Act. Fentanyl is currently a Schedule II controlled substance and when used as prescribed by a doctor, can be a safe painkiller. However outside of careful supervision, fentanyl and its analogues manufactured illicitly can be lethal.

The SOFA Act, if passed by Congress, would eliminate the current loophole which keeps the controlled substance scheduling system one step behind those who manufacture fentanyl analogue and then introduce these powders into the opioid supply. The SOFA Act utilizes catch-all language which will allow the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) to proactively schedule all newly-modified fentanyl analogues, making them illegal as soon as they are manufactured.

In addition to Georgia, and led by Connecticut and Wisconsin, the other attorneys general who signed the letter were Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming.