Two bills seeking to establish regulation and criminal penalties related to illicit pill press machines will get their first hearing in front of the state Legislature this week.
On Tuesday, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary will hear public testimony on both HD.58 and HD.3071.
Pill press machines, which compress powder into tablets, have historically had legitimate and legal uses by the pharmaceutical profession and people who make their own supplements, and still do.
But in recent years, the machines have fallen into the hands of illicit drug traffickers, morphing into a clandestine tool used to produce dangerous and sometimes deadly counterfeit pills containing fentanyl or methamphetamine — at frightening volumes.
Read MassLive’s series on pill press machines
Since 2019, the machines have helped fuel an explosion in the counterfeit pill market as drug dealers shifted their business strategy and stopped relying on finished pills imported from Mexico.
Often, the pills are nearly indistinguishable from pharmaceutical-grade oxycodone or Adderall. Other times, they look like candy.
Read more: Fake Adderall joins vapes as growing danger for high schoolers. These teens are fighting back
Pill presses themselves are legal to possess — it’s what people do with them that can make them illegal. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security have struggled to police them for that reason, particularly when they’re easily purchased from China through encrypted apps using cryptocurrency.
A pill press that was purchased by MassLive from a Chinese seller.Sebastian Restrepo
The bills in question
HD.58, filed by Rep. Marcus Vaughn, R-9th Norfolk, would make it illegal for someone to “possess, purchase, deliver, sell or possess with intent to sell or deliver” a pill press machine “knowing, intending or having reasonable cause to believe” that it will be used to manufacture a controlled substance or counterfeit controlled substance.
The bill would make the crime a felony with a potential prison sentence of up to five years or a fine of at least $25,000.
Read more: Mass. lawmakers target pill press machines fueling opioid crisis
HD.3071, filed by Rep. Richard Wells Jr., D-7th Norfolk, would also create a felony charge, but goes a step further. It would direct the state Board of Registration in Pharmacy to adopt rules and regulations “for standards of compliance for the use of and licensing of pill press machines for the legal use …”
The board could also require registration of pill presses or similar equipment.
Hearings on the pill press proposals and other bills start at 1 p.m. Tuesday at the State House. The hearing will also be livestreamed on the Legislature’s website.
The Joint Committee on the Judiciary must report on the bills by July 5.
MassLive series spotlighted pill presses, growth of illicit pills
Last fall, MassLive published a multi-part investigative series looking into pill presses in Massachusetts. Pill press operations are often set up in residential neighborhoods and can churn out hundreds to thousands of pills per hour.
MassLive found, as of December 2024, that pill presses had been discovered in more than 25 cities and towns across the state within the last five years. There are likely many more.
The series was recently recognized as a finalist for the 2025 Livingston Awards.
