AUGUSTA, Maine - The Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and other law enforcement agencies are asking lawmakers on the Legislature's Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee to add acetylfentanyl to the list of outlawed drugs in Maine.
Maine Drug Enforcement Agency Director Roy McKinney says the drug was among those seized in a raid last year, and, after analysis, the agency realized the drug was not illegal under Maine law - even though use is illegal under federal law.
McKinney says it's a loophole that needs to be closed.
"Drug distributors are going through the scientific literature looking for these particular drugs, and are then clandestinely manufacturing them and then pushing them out or distributing them on the streets," he said, "all to make money and evade criminal liability."
Law enforcement officials warn that the various versions of acetylfentanyl are very powerful and are often used in conjunction with heroin and other drugs. They say they're another in a long line of " designer drugs" that keep being developed to try and circumvent drug laws.