Attorney General Merrick Garland acknowledged on Wednesday that the current anti-drug policy has not been able to stop the deadly flow of fentanyl who continue to contribute to the registration overdose deaths across the country.
“They’re not stopping fentanyl from killing Americans,” Garland said Senate Judiciary Committeecasting the drug problem as a “terrible epidemic unleashed on purpose” by criminal cartels based in Mexico.
Needs criticism federal law enforcement response leveled off Late. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the attorney general said the fentanyl scourge has been elevated to the highest levels in the Justice Department.
“We are focusing on fentanyl with tremendous urgency,” Garland said.
They cost millions and last year: The US now has 3 of them.
Fentanyl is widespread in the United States
The attorney general cited efforts by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, which last year seized more than 379 million potentially lethal doses of fentanyl — enough to kill any American.
The highly addictive, manufactured opioid is 50 times more potent than heroin, and just a small amount — enough to rest on a pencil tip — can be fatal. More than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses in 2021, and two-thirds involved fentanyl.
The deadly drug epidemic was central to early questioning of the attorney general during his first appearance before Congress this year.
Congress focuses on fentanyl: What you need to know about hearing about the drug’s lethality in the United States.
Enough Fentanyl to Kill Every American: DEA seizes 379 million lethal doses by 2022
Garland expected to be questioned by Trump, Biden’s special counsel investigations
Garland was also expected to confront questions about his appointments by special advisers to oversee separate investigations involving former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden.
The two-pronged Trump investigation centers on the former president’s efforts to interfere in the transition of power after his 2020 election defeat, along with his storage of hundreds of classified documents found at his Florida estate.
Garland appointed another special counsel to investigate Biden’s handling of classified documents found in a former office space and at his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
The problematic handling of government documents has also extended to former Vice President Mike Pence. A small number of classified records were found at his Indiana home in January. An FBI search of Pence properties last month yielded an additional document.
Hunter Biden investigation: Garland said he remains not involved
Pressed on the status of a separate, ongoing investigation involving the president’s son, Hunter Bidenled by a federal prosecutor in Delaware, a holdover from the Trump administration, Garland said he has “fulfilled my promise” not to interfere in the investigation.
Garland told Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, that he has instructed Delaware’s prosecutors not to be denied anything he needs.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Merrick Garland Testimony: Fentanyl ‘Triggered’ by Mexican Cartels
