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Sen booker6/9/2023 ![]() The TEST Act is an important step toward fighting the overdose crisis with an approach that is driven by public health, not punishment." ![]() “The indiscriminate scheduling of fentanyl-related substances will only hinder our ability to save lives, broadly criminalizing people who use drugs and preventing research into substances that may have potential medical applications. "For years we've taken an aggressive enforcement-based approach to the overdose crisis, and it has failed,” said Diane Goldstein, Executive Director of Law Enforcement Action Project. We hope that members from both sides of the aisle will embrace a science-based approach to drug scheduling,” said Mazen Saleh, Policy Director, Integrated Harm Reduction at R Street Institute. This proposed legislation represents a pragmatic approach to understanding the effects of fentanyl-related substances, including their potential medical use, and avoids setting a dangerous precedent for permanent classwide scheduling that has implications for the health and safety of our nation. “The R Street Institute supports the TEST Act of 2022, introduced by Sen. Booker’s TEST Act is a necessary step for our country to address the overdose epidemic with science and compassion instead of fear and stigma.” “Without testing, the federal government can unilaterally impose restrictions on any substance it wants, regardless of whether or not it is actually harmful, leading to unjust criminal convictions and impeding research into potentially life-saving treatments. “Designating a class of substances as Schedule I before testing those substances for harm is unprecedented - and for good reason,” said Maritza Perez, Director of the Office of Federal Affairs at Drug Policy Alliance. My common-sense legislation supported by a broad spectrum of groups working to end the opioid crisis will extend temporary scheduling for two years while also requiring the same scientific evaluation of fentanyl analogues as other controlled substances, so we can understand their pharmacological effect and open up new, promising avenues to developing therapies that can combat addiction and the devastation it causes,” continued Senator Booker. “A better approach driven by data, science, and medicine will save lives. ![]() “Temporary scheduling has also preemptively criminalized potentially life-saving antidotes to fentanyl overdoses and impeded the medical, research, and scientific community’s ability to develop the solutions we need to effectively tackle this crisis. ![]() So it isn’t enough to just extend the class-wide scheduling of fentanyl analogues again and hope for a different result,” said Senator Booker. “Temporary scheduling alone is a failed experiment that hasn’t curbed the devastation the opioid crisis has brought on countless families in the United States. It also requires the Attorney General to place into a lower schedule any FRS that has a “potential for abuse” that is less than the drugs or other substances in Schedules I and II. The bill would require the federal government to test fentanyl-related substances (FRS) that are currently classified as Schedule I substances and for the Attorney General to delist those that are not harmful. Washington, DC - Today, civil rights groups and policy experts welcomed the announcement of the Temporary Emergency Scheduling and Testing of Fentanyl Analogues (TEST) Act by U.S.
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