WASHINGTON, D.C. – In case you missed it, WDEL filed a story today about U.S. Senator Chris Coons’ (D-Del.) bipartisan bill, the Suspicious Order Identification Act of 2019, that would prevent diversion of large drug shipments in real time before it has the ability to inflict damage in our communities.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is the only federal entity that can track suspicious orders of opioids, but under the current system, by the time the DEA flags one, it’s too late, and oftentimes, drugs have been diverted to the streets. This lack of real time tracking capability makes it far too easy for dealers to get their hands on opioids that they should not have access to.
“When you order a pizza or buy something on Amazon, you can follow your shipment in real time, so there’s no reason the DEA and industry shouldn’t be able to track massive shipments of dangerous opioids,” said Senator Coons. “This is a commonsense, bipartisan bill that would help ensure that the DEA is able to track large shipments of opioids and keep our communities safe.”
###