General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBorder Patrol has stored enough fentanyl to kill 794M, own agents at risk
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has stored enough fentanyl in the past year to kill an estimated 794 million people, and now a government watchdog office is warning that the agency is "unnecessarily jeopardizing the lives" of its own agents by not sufficiently protecting them from accidental exposure to the lethal synthetic opioid.
In a report released Friday, the Homeland Security Departments Inspector General said the amount of fentanyl seized by agents and stored in vaults has skyrocketed -- from 70 pounds in 2015 to 3,500 pounds so far in this budget year. A single 2 milligram dose of fentanyl (there are 453,592 milligrams in a pound) is lethal for most people, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
In some cases, the powerful drug can sit in a vault for years while the government prosecutes its case.
But when officials inspected several of the 62 vaults around the country operated by CBP, they found cases in which agents handling the powerful narcotic didn't have access to naloxone, the drug that reverses the effects of an overdose. In other cases, inspectors found that the naloxone was locked away in boxes and agents couldn't remember the code.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/border-patrol-has-stored-enough-fentanyl-to-kill-794m-own-agents-at-risk-watchdog/ar-AAEA8XF?li=BBnb7Kz
Dave Starsky
(5,914 posts)I mean, why have all that stuff just sitting around?
Iliyah
(25,111 posts)Historic NY
(37,451 posts)Lochloosa
(16,066 posts)Historic NY
(37,451 posts)Procedures governing the destruction of contraband drug evidence in the custody of Federal law enforcement authorities.
This regulation is intended to prevent the warehousing of large quantities of seized contraband drugs which are unnecessary for due process in criminal cases. Such stockpiling of contraband drugs presents inordinate security and storage problems which create additional economic burdens on limited law enforcement resources of the United States.
Fentanyl is controlled in Schedule II of the Controlled Substances.
Granted there are legal maneuvers, but the evidence in total will never appear in a courthouse unless there are strict hazardous evidence procedures. When was the last time you saw 1ton of marijuana in a courtroom?
[link:https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/CFR-2014-title28-vol2/CFR-2014-title28-vol2-sec50-21|]
5X
(3,972 posts)MrsMatt
(1,660 posts)for those who oppose Trump.
Lars39
(26,109 posts)keithbvadu2
(36,829 posts)Trump country will take care of it.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142343915
Ex-pharma chief charged with flooding Appalachian towns with opioids