End Gas Station Heroin Act

This bill is a constitutional exercise of Congress's enumerated powers. The regulation of controlled substances, including the scheduling of synthetic opioids and expansion of enforcement actions, falls squarely within the commerce power because such substances are articles of interstate commerce and their manufacture, distribution, and sale substantially affect interstate markets. The necessary and proper clause empowers Congress to enact laws that are appropriate and plainly adapted to the execution of its commerce authority, and this bill is a reasonable measure to address the national cris…

This bill exceeds the enumerated powers of Congress under the Constitution. The regulation of substances like MGM-15, MGM-16, and synthetic alkaloids derived from Mitragyna speciosa is not among the powers delegated to the federal government in Article I, Section 8. The Tenth Amendment reserves such police powers to the states. Furthermore, the bill's expansion of enforcement actions against manufacturers and distributors of 'gas station heroin' encroaches upon the liberty of individuals to engage in commerce and contract, which are rights retained by the people under the Ninth Amendment. The …

The proposed legislation touches upon the federal police power over controlled substances, which is not an enumerated power in the Constitution but has been exercised through the Commerce Clause. However, the bill's expansion of enforcement actions against manufacturers and distributors must be carefully confined to interstate commerce and not intrude upon the reserved police powers of the several states. The scheduling of specific substances, particularly with a threshold for mitragynine derivatives, raises concerns about the precision of legislative findings and the potential for arbitrary o…

This bill falls within the enumerated power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce, as established in Gibbons v. Ogden (1824), which held that Congress may regulate all commerce 'which concerns more States than one.' The substances targeted—synthetic opioids and their analogs—are articles of commerce that move across state lines, and their regulation is a proper exercise of the commerce power. Furthermore, the classification of these substances as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act is a means 'necessary and proper' to carry into execution Congress's power to regulate interstat…