HR2351-119

What This Bill Does

This bill updates two Coast Guard-related drug provisions. First, it amends title 46 so the covered-vessel controlled-substance ban clearly reaches people who manufacture, distribute, possess with intent to manufacture or distribute, or place controlled substances on board a covered vessel. Second, it gives the Commandant of the Coast Guard one year to update Coast Guard overdose-medication policy, including policy for naloxone or similar medication used to treat opioid and fentanyl overdoses. The updated policy must make naloxone available for Coast Guard members on all Coast Guard installations and in each operational environment. The Coast Guard must participate in the overdose tracking system created by the fiscal year 2024 defense authorization law, the Coast Guard's parent department and the Defense Department must finalize a memorandum of understanding for tracking-system access, and the Commandant must brief the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Senate Commerce Committee within two years on implementation, illegal fentanyl and controlled-substance trends over five years, mitigation processes, the MOU, and prior naloxone use.

Who Benefits and How

Coast Guard members, Coast Guard operational crews, Coast Guard installation medical staff, maritime drug-enforcement officers, Coast Guard commanders responding to fentanyl overdoses, Department of Defense health-data officials, House Transportation Committee staff, Senate Commerce Committee staff, and naloxone suppliers benefit because the bill creates clearer maritime drug-enforcement language, requires overdose medication to be available during operations, and connects Coast Guard overdose incidents to a federal tracking and oversight system.

Who Bears the Burden and How

The Coast Guard Commandant, Coast Guard policy offices, Coast Guard installation commanders, Coast Guard privacy officers, the Secretary of the Coast Guard's parent department, the Secretary of Defense, Defense Department tracking-system administrators, Coast Guard briefing staff, and maritime drug traffickers bear burdens because the bill requires policy updates, naloxone logistics, installation access arrangements, operational-environment stocking, privacy-law compliance, data-system participation, a formal MOU, congressional briefing preparation, and clearer enforcement exposure for placing controlled substances on covered vessels.

Key Provisions

• Amends title 46 to clarify that manufacturing, distributing, possessing with intent, or placing controlled substances on covered vessels violates maritime drug law.
• Requires the Coast Guard to update overdose-medication policy within one year.
• Requires naloxone or similar medication availability on every Coast Guard installation and in each operational environment.
• Requires Coast Guard participation in the federal overdose tracking system and a Defense Department memorandum of understanding for access.
• Requires a congressional briefing on policy implementation, fentanyl trends, substance-abuse mitigation, MOU status, and prior naloxone use.