Senators Hassan, Grassley Reintroduce Legislation Targeting Illicit Drug Knockoffs

WASHINGTON– Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) today reintroduced theStop Importation and Manufacturing of Synthetic Analogues (SIMSA) Act. The bipartisan bill would crack down on deadly drugs that are substantially similar to controlled substances but carefully engineered to slip into the U.S. undetected.
“America’s scheduling system is inefficient and outdated, and our law enforcement officers are struggling to keep pace with emerging drug threats,”Grassley said.“TheSIMSA Actwould provide much-needed adaptability to get ahead of bad actors and their deadly knockoffs.”
“Communities across New Hampshire have been devastated by fentanyl and other deadly drugs. Fentanyl analogues pose just as severe a threat as fentanyl itself, and criminals have deliberately engineered these drugs to circumvent our laws and evade bans,”Hassan said. “Our bipartisan legislation will provide law enforcement with the necessary tools to crack down on the criminals flooding our streets with these drug analogues. I urge my colleagues to support this effort to protect our communities and save lives, and I will keep working to combat the fentanyl crisis.”
TheSIMSA Actwould create a new schedule of drug – Schedule A. Substances could be classified as Schedule A if (1) their chemical structure is substantially similar to a controlled substance and (2) they are expected to have the same or greater effect on the human body. The bill would subject individuals who manufacture, export and import these knockoffs to criminal penalties, but includes provisions to ensure legitimate research can continue.
Read the bill textHERE.
Background:
U.S. law prohibits the unauthorized use of certain controlled substances. However, illicit drug makers and importers circumvent those laws by altering single atoms in controlled substances, creating tweaked drugs that are not yet outlawed, but have similar effects on users. Currently, uncontrolled substances must undergo a time-consuming analysis before the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) can permanently schedule them.
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