Senate Joins House in Passing Bill to Limit Postal Service Role in Opioid Crisis

The Senate on Monday approved a measure 99-1 to overhaul the international mailing system in an effort to shed the U.S. Postal Service’s reputation as providing a loophole for illicit drug manufacturers abetting the nation’s opioid crisis. Many lawmakers and stakeholders have for years pushed the reform, which would require USPS to receive “advanced electronic data” on the contents of international packages before they reach the United States, but the Synthetics Trafficking and Overdose Prevention (STOP) Act only came up for a vote in the upper chamber after it was included in a package (H.R. 6) of dozens of other measures aimed at tackling the epidemic. Supporters of the measure were hopeful it would help stem the flow of illicit, synthetic opioids from foreign manufacturers through the mail system.