This bill, called the OPIOIDS Act, would let the Attorney General give grants to States, territories, and localities to improve data and tracking of opioid-related overdoses. Grants could pay for better postmortem toxicology testing, linking data across systems, electronic death reporting, and more complete data on fatal and nonfatal overdoses.
The bill also requires grants to local law enforcement agencies and forensic laboratories in communities with high overdose rates for three main purposes: training to help officers identify overdoses; upgrading systems for tracing drugs and processing lab samples so they can report timely, accurate, and standardized data to the National Forensic Laboratory Information System; and training to trace criminals through the darknet. Grant funds cannot be used by entities that fail to submit overdose data to the National Forensic Laboratory Information System.
Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers would provide training on coordination between State and Federal partners for tracking drug activity. The bill would add support under COPS grants for training and containment devices to prevent secondary fentanyl exposure for first responders.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) would develop uniform reporting standards for entering purity, formulation, and weight into the National Forensic Laboratory Information System, with a clarification that this does not create new reporting obligations on State or local labs. The DEA must also include a specific budget line item for the Fentanyl Signature Profiling Program. The bill was introduced in the Senate on February 18, 2025, and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
The bill authorizes grant programs and asks the DEA to include a budget line item for the Fentanyl Signature Profiling Program. No publicly available information on total or estimated costs.
No publicly available information.
No publicly available information.