OH SR251

Urges Congress to pass the Stop Our Scourge Act of 2023, which would direct the U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security to designate illicit fentanyl as a weapon of mass destruction

Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, and has become the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45

Illicit fentanyl is illegally manufactured and distributed through drug markets in liquid or powder form, often mixed with counterfeit opioid pills, heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine

U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized more than 27,000 pounds of illicit fentanyl in fiscal year 2023, with seizures increasing more than 800 percent since fiscal year 2019

In Ohio, fentanyl was involved in 80 percent of unintentional drug overdose deaths in 2021; nationally, synthetic opioid overdose deaths reached 70,601 in 2021