DES MOINES, Iowa — Banning pills laced with fentanyl is gaining bipartisan support in the nation’s capital. In 2021 the Iowa Department of Public Health says it caused 87% of overdose deaths in Iowa.

Now, Senator Charles Grassley hopes legislators put a stop to it.

“Fentanyl overdoses have now become the number one cause of death among U.S. adults ages 18-45,” said Sen. Grassley.

IDPH officials say that for the first time in Polk County, fentanyl is contributing to more deaths than meth. In July of 2021, Carlisle High School senior-to-be, 17-year-old Sebastian Kidd overdosed on a pill he thought was Percocet but was in fact laced with fentanyl.

Last month Grassley, who is co-chair of the Caucus on International Narcotics Control introduced a bipartisan bill that would increase penalties for distributing counterfeit pills containing Fentanyl.

The “Stop Pills That Kill Act,” would also require the DEA to provide congress with a comprehensive plan of attack against pills containing deadly substances like fentanyl. The powdery substance is lethal in doses that are as small as two grains of salt.

Early this month Grassley said, “We are in the middle of the most destructive and challenging drug environment this country has ever seen.”

Last week a bipartisan U.S. House companion bill was also proposed to help fight the fentanyl crisis.