SC Congressman Fry introduces bill to combat fentanyl-laced pills. What he’s been up to
What has Congressman Russell Fry, R-South Carolina, been up to since he took office last January?
Fry was sworn into office on Jan. 1, 2023, and represents the Grand Strand and Pee Dee Region as the Representative for South Carolina’s Seventh Congressional District.
Most recently, he co-sponsored a new bill, The Fight Illicit Pill Presses Act, which was publicly announced on Wednesday by his team.
The goal of his new law is to stop the production of fake or laced pills by requiring pill presses to be engraved with serial numbers, which would help law enforcement be able to trace pill pressed back to potential traffickers, according to a press release.
Fry has previously introduced 10 other bills since he started his term in Congress. This bill is the second one he’s introduced that’s related to illicit drugs in the U.S., records show.
His other bills include:
- Protect the BALL Act of 2024
- Trafficking Survivors Relief Act of 2024
- Chinese Spy Balloon Assessment Act
- Designating the “Nancy Yount Childs Post Office Building” in Surfside Beach
- Grant Transparency Act of 2023
- Fentanyl Crisis Research and Evaluation Act
- Targeting Child Predators Act of 2023
- Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act
- No More Political Prosecutions Act of 2023
- Commending the University of South Carolina Gamecocks Women’s Basketball Team
Out of the above ten bills, the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Service Weapon Purchase Act and the Designating the “Nancy Yount Childs Post Office Building” in Surfside Beach have passed in the House, according to records from Congress.
They have not yet been passed by the Senate, brought to the President or become laws.
The remaining eight bills are at their introductory first step in the House of Representatives. They have not been signed into laws yet, records from Congress show.
He co-introduced his newest piece of legislation alongside Harriet Hageman, a Republican from Wyoming; Josh Harder, a Democrat from California; Melanie Stansbury, a Democrat from New Mexico and Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, a release from Fry’s office said.
“Fentanyl poisoning has taken the lives of countless Americans, including many South Carolinians,” Fry said in a press release. “I am proud to work with my colleagues to develop a solution and introduce the Fight Illicit Pill Presses Act. Too many families have lost a loved one to fentanyl poisoning, and I am committed to doing all that I can in Congress to crack down on drug cartels and drug traffickers to protect our communities.”
Data from the United States Drug Enforcement Administration shows that in 2023, the agency seized 79.5 million fake pills that contained Fentanyl. In 2022, the agency reported seizing 58 million counterfeit pills.
“While pill presses have been seized in 43 states, including South Carolina, many reports suggest that these seizures only account for a low number of those used by cartels,” a release from Fry’s office said. “The Fight Illicit Pill Presses Act would amend the Controlled Substances Act to require pill presses to be engraved with a serial number and impose criminal penalties for tampering with the serial number or transportation of tampered presses. This legislation would help law enforcement agencies and the DEA solve crimes against drug trafficking and trace pill presses back to cartels.”
In 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 44.7 people out of 100,000 died due to a drug overdose in South Carolina.
During the the state’s last General Assembly session, lawmakers also introduced Bill 153, which adds an offense for trafficking fentanyl in South Carolina law.
In 2020, 1,734 people in South Carolina died from a drug overdose, according to information from the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services. They reported that of those 1,734 deaths, 1,400 were related to opioids and 1,100 involved fentanyl.
