One of the biggest contributors to overdose deaths in the U.S. is Fentanyl. We have heard that from numerous law enforcement agencies across the country and in Manitowoc County.
Congressman Glen Grothman told Seehafer News that last year, over 100,000 people died from illegal drugs.
He then made a comparison to the deaths from the Vietnam War, which he explained, “took place over like 12 years, and about 57,000 people died. At the time it was a big deal because people felt too many people were dying…Last year, [due to] illegal drugs, 100,000 people died. It’s like two Vietnam Wars in one year, almost.”
To try to combat the problem, Grothman recently introduced the Fentanyl Penalties Parity Act, which he said will raise the mandatory minimums for drug dealers who distribute the deadly drug.
Under current law, an offense must involve 400 or more grams of a mixture or substance containing fentanyl to trigger a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence.
Because the lethal dose of fentanyl is about 2 milligrams, the offense would need to contain roughly 200,000 lethal doses in order to trigger the 10-year mandatory minimum.
By comparison, to trigger the 10-year mandatory minimum for heroin, the offense would have to involve at least 1 kilogram, which contains roughly 10,000 lethal doses.
Grothman also said that a big contributor to the Fentanyl problem is the lack of security at the southern border.
