HR5573-119

What This Bill Does

The Combatting Fentanyl Poisonings Act of 2025 adds a new section 509 to the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act. The Attorney General, through the Bureau of Justice Assistance and in consultation with HHS, may award grants to state and local law enforcement agencies for locally based programs that combat unlawful sale, marketing, or distribution of controlled substances through social media platforms. Those programs may prioritize arrests of people using social media to sell, market, or distribute controlled substances and may provide training to school personnel, clinicians, and the public about counterfeit-substance fentanyl poisoning and online communication methods used by drug dealers. The bill also authorizes nonprofit grants, capped at $50,000 each, for public education and awareness campaigns about fentanyl, including transportation for parents or immediate family members of people who died from fentanyl poisoning, educational materials, counseling or mentorship, and naloxone or overdose-reversal training for parents and school employees. It excludes most harm-reduction supplies from those nonprofit grants except naloxone, naloxone supplies, and naloxone training. A third grant category helps state and local law enforcement agencies buy fentanyl test strips, field-portable ion mobility spectrometers, naloxone, naloxone supplies, and officer training for fentanyl testing, detection, and overdose reversal. The bill authorizes $10 million for the enforcement/social-media grant, $3 million for nonprofit education grants, and $2 million for officer exposure grants.

Who Benefits and How

State and local law enforcement agencies benefit from $10 million in grants for social-media drug-sales enforcement and $2 million for fentanyl exposure equipment. Parents and family members of fentanyl poisoning victims benefit because nonprofit grants can pay transportation to speak at awareness campaigns. School personnel and clinicians benefit from training on counterfeit substances, fentanyl poisoning risk, and online dealer communication methods. Nonprofit fentanyl education organizations benefit from campaign grants capped at $50,000 each.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Bureau of Justice Assistance grant staff must administer three new grant categories and consult with HHS. Grant applicants must submit applications and use funds only for authorized enforcement, education, naloxone, equipment, or training purposes. Nonprofit recipients may not use grant funds for barred harm-reduction supplies such as sterile injection or safer smoking kits. People selling controlled substances through social media face prioritized law-enforcement targeting and arrest risk.

Key Provisions

• Creates state and local law-enforcement grants for programs targeting controlled-substance sales through social media.
• Provides education and training for school personnel, clinicians, parents, and the public about fentanyl poisoning risks.
• Authorizes nonprofit public awareness grants capped at $50,000 and allows naloxone-related education and supplies.
• Provides officer exposure grants for fentanyl testing, detection, overdose reversal equipment, and training.
• Appropriates $10 million, $3 million, and $2 million for the three grant categories.