Markey Advocates For Drug Detection Devices For First Responders
WATERTOWN (CBS) - Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey is pushing a bi-partisan bill to give first responders an electronic defense against fentanyl.
The proposed law before Congress would give federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies the money to buy the hand-held devices that can detect the dangerous drugs.
Markey said in Watertown Tuesday that the high-tech tool can be effective for officers in the field.
"So anytime Customs and Border Protection find a suspicious powder, pill, or liquid, they can use a handheld device, really something that looks and fields like a Nintendo game, to conduct a test out in the field, with real time results," Markey said.
Markey stressed the need for the bill because of how strong fentanyl is.
"Fentanyl is the Godzilla of opioids. It is overrunning our communities and laying waste to them. There is no easy solution, but we know we must stop the flow of this drug before we lose an entire generation," Markey said.
Middlesex D.A. Marian Ryan endorses the bill.
"What's coming into Boston, in to Middlesex County, is coming in increasingly through packages shipped through the airport and folks traveling in," Ryan said.
More than 20 senators have signed-on to the bill.
