House passes measure to strengthen penalties for fentanyl-related substances

The scourge of fentanyl is an issue that has been prioritized by the new Trump administration as well as a growing contingent in Congress, a fact evidenced by the passage of a new measure this week to help address an epidemic that has taken on tragic proportions.

As the Washington Examiner reports, House Republicans led the way and secured approval of the Halt All Lethal Trafficking, or HALT, Fentanyl Act, by a vote of 312-108, doing so with the support of 98 Democrats.

House enhances fentanyl penalties

The key pillar of the HALT Fentanyl Act involves the permanent reclassification of drugs that have only slight chemical differences from fentanyl, placing them in the Schedule I category of illegal substances.

Schedule I is reserved for drugs considered to be the most dangerous in that they have no accepted medical use and carry with them a high potential for abuse, as the New York Post explains, with heroin, marijuana, LSD, ecstasy, and peyote also included in this category.

The primary impact of the reclassification decision is that it opens up the possibility for traffickers in such substances to receive mandatory minimum sentences.

Notably, the measure also seeks to close what is commonly known as the “analogues loophole,” something which allows drug traffickers to adjust a particular chemical component of fentanyl so as to evade legal prohibitions on pure versions of the drug.

President Donald Trump, during his first term in office, placed fentanyl into Schedule I back in 2018, and though the designation received multiple extensions, the temporary classification was poised to end on March 31, and though the House passed the HALT Fentanyl Act in 2023, the then-Democrat-led Senate scuttled its prospects.

Senate version up next

The Senate's iteration of the bill was recently introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley and Bill Cassidy, and this time around, it also boasts support from Democrat co-sponsors such as Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (NV), Ruben Gallego (AZ), and Maggie Hasssan (NH).

Explaining his support for the measure, Grassley said, “Today, roughly 150 Americans will die from fentanyl poisoning. Cartels fuel this crisis by marketing their poison as legitimate prescription pills. They also avoid regulation by chemically altering the drugs to create powerful fentanyl knock-offs.”

He went on, “The HALT Fentanyl Act would make permanent fentanyl related substances' Schedule 1 classification and ensure law enforcement has the tools they need to combat these deadly drugs.”

Cassidy weighed in as well, saying, “The Biden administration's open border was an invitation to drug cartels smuggling Chinese fentanyl into the U.S., fueling the U.S. overdose epidemic. Law enforcement must have the tools necessary to combat this trend. We cannot let this Schedule I classification lapse.”

The bill has received the endorsement of the Drug Enforcement Association of Federal Narcotics Agents, the Major County Sheriffs of America, the Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies, the National Alliance of State Drug Enforcement Agencies, the National High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Directors Association, and the National District Attorneys Association, among other key groups, as Grassley and Cassidy pointed out.

Opposition rears its head

Despite the nonpartisan support the HALT Fentanyl Act has attracted in the House and also in the Senate, that is not to say that everyone is on board, with the Drug Policy Alliance sending a letter to legislators in both chambers urging their opposition to the measure.

The communication, signed by a group of public health, criminal justice and civil rights organizations, suggested that the measure “places undue restrictions on research for therapeutic potential of some fentanyl-related substances” and “criminalizes possibly inert or harmless substances” and imposes what opponents believe are potentially unjust mandatory minimum sentences, but whether those arguments will hold any sway in the end, only time will tell.