Findings; purpose

(a) Findings Congress finds as follows: (1) Stephen Hacala was a 24-year-old from Fayetteville, Arkansas, who was dearly loved by family and friends when he died from morphine intoxication caused by consumption of contaminated poppy seeds. (2) At least 19 people in the United States have been confirmed to have died from morphine overdoses from contaminated poppy seeds. (3) Women in the United States have tested positive for opiates in hospitals at childbirth due to poppy seed consumption in food, leading to unwarranted scrutiny from child welfare officials. (4) In 2023, the Department of Defense issued a warning to all servicemembers to avoid poppy seed consumption due to opiate contamination and the risk of positive drug tests. (5) Studies of pharmaceutical opiates have found that a dose of just 20 to 50 morphine milligram equivalents per day increases the risk of overdose and death among patients prescribed morphine for pain treatment. (6) Poppy products purchased in the United States have been found to have up to 2,788 milligrams of morphine per kilogram of seeds after extraction. (7) While poppy seeds are excluded from the definition of opium poppy and poppy straw under the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 801 et seq.), that definition does not exclude unwashed poppy seeds that have been contaminated with opium alkaloids from the latex of the plant. The opium alkaloids (inclusive of morphine, codeine, and thebaine), if present as contaminants on poppy seed material, are also not exempted from control under that Act. (b) Purpose It is the purpose of this Act to establish levels for contamination of poppy seeds by morphine, by codeine, and by other illicit compounds, after which poppy seeds shall be considered adulterated substances that are prohibited in interstate commerce.