President Joe Biden issued a National Security Memorandum to the heads of the Departments of the Treasury, Homeland Security, Justice, and other federal agencies directing a coordinated, whole-of-government approach for disrupting the supply chain for fentanyl and synthetic opioids that will be overseen by the National Security Council.
Specifically, the memo directs federal agencies to “engage collectively and collaboratively, employing all available tools, in support of the shared goal of materially and sustainably disrupting the illicit fentanyl supply chain.” The Biden Administration also called on Congress to pass legislation to permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs and give law enforcement at the border “the tools they need to more effectively track and target the millions of small-dollar shipments that cross our borders every day.”