Fentanyl is pouring across our open borders. Overdoses on this extremely dangerous artificial opioid have doubled in the past five years, surpassing 100,000 per year nationwide, including over 1,000 here in Indiana. Most of the victims are young and most don't know they are ingesting fentanyl. Just a few grains of the drug can kill, and traffickers put it into all sorts of other drugs, including legal medicines like Adderall. Preparing for a midterm or celebrating completion of finals should not be a death sentence.

When Indiana’s state assembly voted to increase the penalties for trafficking fentanyl to make it on-par with heroin, there was massive bipartisan support. Only a handful of legislators voted AGAINST the change. Sadly, our current state representative was one of them. That was a red flag to me that indicated a lack of common sense and lack of commitment to our kids’ safety. 

Indiana is one of only four states where it is illegal to use test strips to detect the presence of fentanyl. Because this poison is being put into a myriad of other substances, that law needs to change.