'We may need to build more morgues.' U.S. Attorney David DeVillers urges House to extend fentanyl order

A letter released Tuesday from U.S. Attorney David DeVillers urged the U.S. House of Representatives to permanently ban fentanyl analogues or to "build more morgues."

The U.S. Senate passed the Temporary Reauthorization and Study of the Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act – which continues the designation of fentanyl analogues as a Schedule I controlled substance, therefore keeping the opioids illegal – on Jan. 16. The House has not yet approved the legislation.

DeVillers states that if the bill does not pass, the designation will expire and all fentanyl analogues will become legal on Feb. 6. 

Labs in China and Mexico make fentanyl analogues by changing a single molecule in the chemical structure of fentanyl, according to DeVillers' letter. The analogues act like fentanyl but are legally not fentanyl.

A lethal dose of fentanyl is about 2 milligrams, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Fentanyl analogues are created by drug cartels to circumvent U.S. drug laws and are just as powerful – and sometimes more powerful – than fentanyl, DeVillers stated in his letter. He claims that many of the opioids found in the Southern District of Ohio are fentanyl analogues.

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DeVillers began his letter by citing an email from the Franklin County Coroner:

As I typed this out, I received an email from the Franklin County Coroner, Dr. Anahi Ortiz. She let me know that there were seven overdose deaths in Franklin County this weekend. Unfortunately, this is not the worst email I have received from Dr. Ortiz. In September, there were ten overdose deaths in one day.

Statistically, it is highly likely that this weekend’s deaths were the result of one drug: Fentanyl.

DeVillers states opioids like fentanyl and its analogues are "by far the most deadly illicit drugs in American history." According to his letter, over 83 percent of Franklin County's overdose deaths in the first nine months of 2019 were caused by fentanyl-related drugs.

It is likely that many people consuming fentanyl may not know they are doing so, DeVillers said. Other drugs, such as heroin and cocaine, are at times laced with fentanyl. DeVillers states drug dealers make more of a profit by cutting heroin and cocaine with fentanyl-related drugs.

"When they cut it poorly, people die," DeVillers wrote in the letter.

DeVillers ended his message with a call to action: 

The House should act quickly to pass this extension and both Houses of Congress should work together to make all Fentanyl-related drugs a permanently designated Schedule I controlled substance. Or, and I’m sorry to put it so bluntly, we may need to build more morgues. 

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