SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — With fentanyl continuing to take lives at an alarming rate, South Dakota Congressman Dusty Johnson convened a roundtable discussion in Sioux Falls on Friday aimed at tackling the crisis from all angles: supply, demand, and prevention.
Johnson, who recently introduced the Joint Task Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics Act of 2025, gathered law enforcement leaders, tribal officials, policymakers, and parents who have lost children to fentanyl poisoning to speak candidly about the epidemic.
“We know fentanyl is everywhere in the U.S.,” Johnson said during the one-hour forum. “I fear we’ve almost become numb to it, and we just can’t afford to have that be the case.”
The Congressman’s proposed legislation establishes a federal joint task force designed to combat the trafficking of synthetic opioids like fentanyl. The bill calls for coordination among federal agencies to disrupt international and domestic trafficking networks, with a sharp focus on China’s role in the crisis.
“Getting tough on China means cracking down on their money-making fentanyl scheme,” Johnson said. “We can’t let the Chinese Communist Party profit from American deaths.”
Minnehaha County Sheriff Mike Milstead, who chairs the National Sheriff’s Drug Enforcement Committee, emphasized the scale and source of the problem.
“Ninety percent of the fentanyl and meth coming into South Dakota today comes with a precursor from China. It goes to Mexico where the cartels stamp it into counterfeit pills,” Milstead said.
Johnson also previewed another piece of legislation aimed at penalizing international shipping companies that allow fentanyl to be trafficked alongside legitimate commercial goods.
“We’ll be able to use that legal framework at our ports and impose a new, substantial penalty for failure to stop these deadly shipments,” he said.
But the conversation didn’t stop at border control and enforcement. Advocates stressed the importance of addressing the crisis comprehensively—from mental health and treatment to stigma and early prevention.
“We have a problem with fentanyl coming into this country, but we also have a huge problem with demand and substance use disorder,” said Angela Kennecke, founder of Emily’s Hope, a nonprofit named after her daughter who died of fentanyl poisoning. “We have to address this holistically. It’s not just a law enforcement issue—we have to do much more to deal with the human condition and keep the funding going.”
Kennecke, who invited other bereaved parents to attend the roundtable, spoke passionately about prevention as a long-term solution.
“Prevention is the key,” she said. “We have to start with kids at a very young age. The science shows you need to talk to them much earlier than middle school. The way to protect our kids is through education.”
Emily’s Hope has developed a K-12 substance use prevention curriculum that is already being used in multiple states. Kennecke says the curriculum focuses on science-based education, brain development, and helping students make healthy choices.
She also pointed to stigma as a major barrier to real progress in fighting the fentanyl crisis.
“If people were dropping dead from fentanyl-laced alcohol in bars, we’d be doing everything in our power to stop it,” Kennecke said. “But because of the stigma surrounding illicit drug use, we haven’t done enough as a nation. That’s why we’re still here today.”
According to police, 24 people died in 2024 in Sioux Falls from overdose and about half were from fentanyl. Officials say that even if the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. were stopped immediately, enough supply already exists to last at least a decade.
“We can’t arrest our way out of this,” Johnson said. “But we can take a united approach—combining smart enforcement, tough sanctions, compassionate treatment, and education that starts young.”
The Joint Task Force to Counter Illicit Synthetic Narcotics Act of 2025 is expected to be introduced in Congress in the coming weeks.
