State and federal leaders are taking a tougher stance against the nation's fentanyl crisis.

A silent killer that can't be detected when laced into other drugs.

And was involved in 75% of drug overdose deaths in New Jersey in 2019.

Well, U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez today joined with law enforcement urging passage of new legislation that will crack down on cartels smuggling the dangerous drug into the U.S.. Senior correspondent Joanna Gagis reports.

Fentanyl claimed the life of my first born son Max on July 14th of 2022.

It was his 25th birthday.

Patrice Lenowitz shared how her son took a Xanax before heading to his birthday celebration with friends in Atlantic City.

He never made it there but the Xanax was identified as counterfeit and contained a lethal dose of fentanyl.

Michelle Schreffler-Perez lost her son Daniel after a years long battle with substance abuse.

He, too, died of a fentanyl overdose.

I lost my son.

And in preparation for his funeral services, I grabbed out the pictures and I grabbed out his midget football team.

And I went through the entire team and I said, he's not here.

He's not here.

He's struggling.

He's in recovery.

He's lost.

All of those losses are shared grief by countless families.

In New Jersey and the nation.

Statistics show that.

65% of all overdose deaths in 2021 were due to fentanyl each day.

Eight families lose a loved one in New Jersey to the opiate in fentanyl crisis.

We need to continue our focus on education and prevention efforts, along with treatment options and collaboration with our prescribers and law enforcement.

The Fend Off Fentanyl Act is crucial to supporting these efforts.

The Fend Off Fentanyl Act was sponsored by U.S.

Senator Bob Menendez, and just passed the Senate last week as part of the bipartisan National Defense Authorization Act.

This bipartisan bill enacts strict sanctions to target the financial assets of the opioid trackers driving this devastating epidemic.

The bill would enhance existing laws to help stop fentanyl trafficking rings.

By empowering the federal government to fully prosecute the manufacturers, suppliers and smugglers of this poison.

It will better safeguard American communities and by targeting fentanyl and its revenue streams.

The bill would protect our national security while also giving domestic law enforcement the tools it needs to meet this issue head on.

We had 107,000 overdoses.

Over 70,000 of those overdoses were from fentanyl.

That fills the Prudential Center four times over.

There are wars that don't claim 70,000 lives.

And that's the important part here.

This is a war.

It's a war on drugs.

And while Senator Menendez states clearly that the bill goes after drug distributors and not those with substance use disorders, some in the recovery community push back against this hard line approach, including some Democratic congressional leaders who voted no to a bill called the HALT Act that had bipartisan support that would make fentanyl a schedule one drug stiffening penalties around it.

Still, Menendez defends this bill declaring that the fentanyl crisis is a national emergency, which is what the legislation does, requiring the president to sanction transnational criminal organizations that are in the midst of trafficking and creating fentanyl.

I don't see this as a continuation of any failed policy.

I see it as a vigorous effort to try to stop the death march that has taken place in our state and in our country.

The senator's office will be reaching out to members of the House of Representatives in the hope of getting this bill passed out of committee in the early fall.

In Totowa, I'm Joanna Gagis, NJ Spotlight News.