Bipartisan legislation pushed in both chambers of Congress aims to stop illegal fentanyl production and trafficking by focusing on the machinery used to manufacture pills.
The Criminalizing Abused Substance Templates, or CAST, Act would redefine the criminal penalty for producing counterfeit drugs using a pill press. Counterfeiting drugs is already illegal as outlined in the Controlled Substances Act but no penalty is included in the law.
Under CAST, it would be illegal to possess a pill press mold with the intent to produce schedule I or II drugs, a crime punishable for up to 20 years.
CAST was introduced in the House by Reps. Abigail Spanberger, a Virginia Democrat, and David Kustoff, a Tennessee Republican, in October 2019 and it was reintroduced in March 2023.
Tags: Counterfeit Legislation Opioid Epidemic Pill Presses
