In the News

LA Politics
February 16, 2022

Congressman Mike Johnson today called for the House Judiciary Committee chairman to scheduled committee hearings on America’s growing fentanyl crisis. "In my home state of Louisiana, drug overdose deaths due to synthetic opioids (primarily fentanyl) rose 119 percent in just the first four months of 2021 when compared to 2020," Johnson wrote in a letter to the chair. "Even more startling, the first quarter of 2021 accounted for more synthetic opioid overdose deaths in Louisiana than occurred in all of 2019."

Last week, Johnson introduced legislation to permanently classify all illicit fentanyl as a Schedule I narcotic under the Controlled Substances Act. The legislation would "streamline and standardize the process for prosecuting those manufacturing and distributing illicit fentanyl," according to a press release.