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PRINCE'S OD COULD SPUR ACTION ON OPIOIDS

Lawmakers Mostly Agree That Congress Needs to Take Steps.

The official confirmation of Prince's death by opioid overdose is likely to reverberate in Washington, where lawmakers are still trying to hammer out a deal on legislation attempting to stem a national crisis in abuse of those drugs.

"No one is immune," Sen.  Rob Portman, R-Ohio, said in a statement.  Portman is one of the main authors of the Senate legislation.

"The heroin and prescription drug epidemic is devastating families and communities all over the country, and we need to get this bill to the president's desk as quickly as possible," he said.

Lawmakers have exhibited widespread bipartisan agreement that Congress needs to take steps to improve drug treatment, to better control prescription drug distribution and to enhance training of emergency responders in treating overdoses.  But progress on the legislation has been slowed by disputes over funding and by other maneuvering over legislation that members of both parties see as a selling point in the fall elections.

House and Senate negotiators have started preliminary talks on reconciling different versions of the opioid legislation that have been passed by the t wo chambers, and they now hope to produce a final package before the next recess, over the Fourth of July.

Prince's death i s likely to spur them on.  High-profile drug fatalities have had that effect in the past.  The death from a cocaine overdose of the college basketball star Len Bias in June 1986 is widely credited with starting the crackdown of those years that came to be known as the war on drugs.

After Thursday's announcement that the superstar's death was the result of an overdose of the painkiller fentanyl, investigators will try to determine whether the singer had a prescription for the drug or whether it was supplied illegally.  If it's the latter, someone could face criminal charges carrying years, or even decades, in prison.

Prince was found dead April 21 at his Minneapolis-area estate, and at least one friend has said he suffered from intense knee and hip pain from many years of performances.

Although the death was formally ruled an accident, that merely signified that it was not intentional and does not preclude a criminal prosecution.

Kent Bailey, head of the DEA in Minneapolis, said the agency will continue investigating along with Carver County authorities and the U.S.  Attorney's Office.  He declined to offer details, but said "rest assured, we will be thorough."

Legal experts say the focus of the investigation will now probably turn to whether the source or sources of the fentanyl were legal or not.  Often, such investigations include grand jury subpoenas for records or for testimony from individuals.

Authorities may also look to the singer's associates.

"The investigation may expand to people who surround him," said Gal Pissetzky, a Chicago - based attorney who has represented multiple clients facing drug charges who has no link to Prince.  "If fentanyl was obtained illegally, I don't think Prince would have gone out to meet someone in a dark alley to get the substance."

If a street dealer was the source, identifying that person won't be easy.

"It'll be very, very difficult," he said.  "These guys don't write receipts, and they change phones all the time."

Illegally distributing fentanyl to someone who then dies from it is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years under federal law.  Under Minnesota law, the same actions can result in third-degree murder charges and up to 25 years in prison.

The names of at least two doctors have come up in the death investigation.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.