Editor’s note: This is the fourth story in an ongoing series about how pill presses are changing illicit drug production in Massachusetts and beyond. Read the rest of the series here. The ...

I’m writing to make your readers aware of two important pieces of proposed legislation at the Statehouse regarding the dangers of pill press machines and their contribution to the opioid epidemic.

This latest wave of the drug crisis is often powered by pill press machines, devices that can quickly make thousands of pills in just about any location of choice.

Criminals can use pill presses and encapsulating machines to produce counterfeit pills, including fentanyl-laced pills that helped fuel the nation's opioid epidemic.