Dupage Policy Journal

Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Westmont) recently took to Facebook to stress the need for tougher drug legislation.

“One pill can kill and we need to give prosecutors stronger tools to combat fentanyl and prosecute dealers,” Mazzochi wrote on Facebook. "Our kids are dying from fentanyl overdoses because of deceptive tactics by distributors, like "rainbow fentanyl," and making it look like different prescription medications."

Mazzochi and some of her House Republican colleagues have introduced HB 5808, a bill aiming to address the fentanyl crisis in Illinois. The bill would amend the Illinois Controlled Substances Act to increase the penalties associated with manufacturing, possessing, and intending to distribute fentanyl; add the new offense of “fentanyl trafficking” into the criminal code; and establish sentencing minimums.

Mazzochi posted a link to an ABC7 story that reported the Department of Justice has said Mexican cartels are trafficking fentanyl pills into the country that are disguised as rainbow candy or as prescription pills such as OxyContin and Percocet.

“Of this year, DEA agents conducted 389 investigations, including 35 cartel-linked investigations in 201 cities," Attorney General Merrick Garland told reporters last week. "Over the course of these investigations, we seized over 10 million fake pills and 82 pounds of fentanyl powder motor crews across all 50 states. That is enough to kill 36 million Americans. In addition agencies 338 weapons during this operation, including shotguns pistols, and hand grenades."

One-hundred and thirty-seven people died from overdoses in DuPage County in 2021, representing a 5% increase from 2020, according to the DuPage County Health Department (DCHD). In 2021, people participating in the DuPage Narcan Program were able to reverse more than 200 opioid overdoses. DCHD announced a new vending machine supplied with Narcan nasal spray at the Linda A. Kurzawa Community Center on North County Farm Road in Wheaton in August 2021 in an effort to help reduce the number of overdose deaths.