Regulatory Loopholes Worsen Opioid Crisis

America faces another ongoing public health challenge – outside of Covid-19 – in the scourge of illicit opioids getting across our borders through the U.S. Postal Service (USPS). Congress passed, and President Donald J. Trump signed, the bipartisan STOP Act in 2018 to combat synthetic drugs like fentanyl and carfentanil from being shipped right into the United States. The Department of Homeland Security has released the interim final rule (IFR) titled the “Mandatory Electronic Information for International Mail Shipments” to implement the STOP Act, yet that draft has alarming loopholes that will allow opioids to continue to be shipped right into the United States via the U.S. Postal Service.

The Synthetics Trafficking & Overdose Prevention Act or STOP Act was crafted by Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) with House support from Reps. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) and Richard Neal (D-MA) to battle what Sen. Portman called “a heroin and prescription drug epidemic in our country.” Portman pointed out that “this crisis is being made worse by an influx of deadly synthetic drugs coming into our states from places like China and India.” The problem is that there are loopholes in law that allow traffickers in primarily in China to send “letters” containing these drugs that never get screened by the USPS.

The opioid crisis has taken many American lives and the drug fentanyl is a major culprit. According the Department of Health and Human Services, 70,630 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2019, 10.1 million Americans misused prescription opioids last year, and 1.6 million are estimated to have an opioid-related condition. The federal government is right to fight the devastating impact of this epidemic. With a staggering 40% of opioid overdose deaths resulting from prescriptions, the Feds must have a comprehensive plan to fight both prescription drug abuse as well as the serious challenges at the USPS.

A critical problem with enforcement is a giant loophole in existing enforcement of the STOP Act that allows the mailing of opioids through the regular mail. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) should be treating all importers the same, including shipments from foreign posts, yet this is not the case. The CBP has missed important STOP Act enforcement benchmarks and the pending regulations that are being considered right now contain a massive gap that will allow foreign exporters of fentanyl to use the mail to send the drugs into the United States.

The bipartisan coalition that supported the STOP Act legislation, including Sens. Portman and Klobuchar and Reps. Tiberi and Neal, need to pressure the DHS ‘roll back’ the weak rules undercutting the law’s effectiveness. For Republicans, this is a Trump legacy accomplishment they should want to preserve; and for Democrats, getting the STOP Act right pushes back on the notion that they are supporting open borders for illegal immigrants and drugs. It’s a win on the politics and, more importantly, it’s a public health victory.

The specific problem – the gaping loophole – is that the USPS is not required under the interim final rule (IFR) to tag all letters with advance electronic data (AED) that could contain illegal goods and drugs. The regulations have allowed a much too broad definition of what constitutes a ‘letter’ – we’re not talking about envelops with a stamp. Even with a small envelope, one could send significant quantities of fentanyl into the United States. A simple bipartisan fix is to close the loophole.

The opioid crisis has worsened as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. It makes no sense for the Biden administration to undermine the value of the STOP Act with reckless regulatory rules. Too many lives are at stake to get the STOP Act wrong. Get it right, Mr. President – the nation’s public health depends on ending America’s addiction to illicit opioid abuse.

Jerry Rogers is the editor of RealClearHealth and the host of the 'Jerry Rogers Show' on WBAL NewsRadio. Follow him on Twitter @JerryRogersShow.