Families and law enforcement praise U.S. Senate passing FEND off Fentanyl Act
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Local families directly impacted by fentanyl and law enforcement are celebrating after a bill passed the U.S. Senate.
U.S. Senator Bob Casey made a stop at the Allegheny County Police Department on Monday to meet with law enforcement and two local mothers to highlight the importance of the U.S. Senate's recent passage of the FEND off Fentanyl Act.
Sen. Casey said the bill has bipartisan support, but it still has to make it through the House.
"My daughter, Brianna Sanner, she died April 5, 2022, at the age of 30. She was my only child, and obviously part of my heart and soul are gone with her," said Janet Morrison-Heberling.
Sanner died of a fentanyl overdose. She was a beautiful and kind person taken from this world too soon.
"I'll never have a new picture of her again. And she was a beautiful person, and she was way more than her drug addiction," said Morrison-Heberling.
Morrison-Heberling uses her unimaginable pain to help the fight against fentanyl. She held up the same photo of her daughter when she first showed her support for the act. It would crack down on criminal organizations, from chemical suppliers in China to the Mexican cartels, by targeting their financial assets.
"I am so proud to be a part of the positive things to come as a result of this act," said Morrison-Heberling.
Peggy Heidish also channels her grief to spread awareness about the deadly drug's danger.
"Last July, my beloved son Zack died of fentanyl poisoning, and our lives were shattered. Zach was 35," Heidish said.
She said her son was fun, loving and a gentle soul. Last spring, he went into an in-patient recovery program. Heidish said when he returned home, he was excited about getting his life back and returning to his job as a safety officer for UPMC.
"He was planning to start an outpatient recovery program in two days. My husband and I had so much hope. But for some reason, I've learned this is not unusual, Zack decided he wanted to use again. Maybe it's just that one-more-time urge that so many people have," Heidish said.
Heidish said it took about four and half months to get the official death certificate because of the overdose overload in Allegheny County.
"In 2023, preliminary data shows that fentanyl was linked to 86 percent of all overdose deaths in Allegheny County," said Lt. Mike Holzer of the Allegheny County Police Department's Narcotics Unit.
Sen. Casey said the FEND off Fentanyl Act would crack down on the fentanyl supply chain by going after the bad guys and hitting them hard.
"We have to put in place and implement after it's passed, God willing, to sanction and get tough on the bad guys and to crack down on this. But we have a long way to go on this issue. But finally, finally we're getting some bipartisan cooperation to move this forward," said Sen. Casey.
"Our communities are being poisoned on a daily basis. More needs to be done to prevent the flow of this illicit and dangerous drug from making its way onto our streets in Western Pennsylvania and elsewhere. It's the only way we'll prevent more tragedies," said Commander Richard Manning with the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office.
Law enforcement works tirelessly to battle the fentanyl problem, but officials said there's an urgent need for help at the federal level.
"It's a battle to go for anybody to make it through recovery but the presence of this poison, this fentanyl, makes it even harder to win that battle. No one makes it through recovery when they're dead," Heidish said.