Whereas the United States continues to experience a prescription opioid and heroin overdose epidemic that claimed more than 33,000 lives in 2015; Whereas fentanyl is a synthetic opioid and the euphoric effects of fentanyl are sometimes indistinguishable from the euphoric effects of heroin or morphine; Whereas the effect of fentanyl can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine; Whereas although pharmaceutical fentanyl can be diverted for misuse, most fentanyl deaths are believed to be linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl and illicit versions of chemically similar compounds known as fentanyl analogs (collectively referred to in this preamble as illicit fentanyl ); Whereas illicit fentanyl is potentially lethal even if only a very small quantity is ingested or inhaled; Whereas across the United States, illicit fentanyl use and related deaths are rising at alarming rates; Whereas illicit fentanyl is cheaper to manufacture than heroin and the sale of illicit fentanyl is highly profitable for drug dealers; Whereas illicit fentanyl is sold for its heroin-like effects and illicit fentanyl is often mixed with heroin, cocaine, or methamphetamine as a combination product, with or without the knowledge of the user; Whereas illicit fentanyl is often produced to physically resemble other opioid pain medicines, such as oxycodone, which sell for high amounts on the street; Whereas drug users often overdose on illicit fentanyl because users are unaware that they are ingesting illicit fentanyl and do not anticipate the toxicity and potential lethality of illicit fentanyl; Whereas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2014 and 2015, the death rate from overdoses caused by synthetic opioids, including illicit fentanyl and synthetic opioid pain relievers other than methadone and heroin, increased 72 percent