WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are pushing to permanently reclassify fentanyl to the highest level of drug restrictions laid out in the Controlled Substances Act under a new bill making its way through Congress.
The HALT Fentanyl Act seeks to designate fentanyl under Schedule 1, which defines the drug as highly addictive and unacceptable for medical use in the United States. The opioid was temporarily classified as Schedule 1 during the first Trump administration and has been extended by Congress on a bipartisan basis over the last seven years.
The previous extension is set to expire on March 31, which would place the drug back in its original Schedule 2 classification, prompting lawmakers to consider making the classification permanent.
“The opioid epidemic continues to claim the lives of hundreds of Americans every day,” Reps. Morgan Griffith, R-Va., and Bob Latta, R-Ohio, who sponsored the bill, said in a joint statement. “As this crisis escalates, every delay in addressing it only increases the toll on our communities. For the sake of public safety, it is imperative that the House pass the HALT Fentanyl Act as it stands, without changes, and move it forward to law.”
The bill comes after more than 107,000 people died of drug overdoses in 2023, with roughly 70% of those occurring from illicit fentanyl or fentanyl-related substances. Illicit fentanyl poisonings have also risen to become the number one cause of death for adults under 50.
Republicans have long sought to crack down on fentanyl-related deaths, with President Donald Trump using the crisis as justification to threaten tariffs on Canada and Mexico to halt the flow of fentanyl into the country. Those tariffs were later suspended for one month as leaders from both countries vowed to crack down on illegal immigration and the transportation of illegal drugs into the U.S.
However, Trump did impose 10% tariffs on Chinese imports for the same reasons. Those took effect on Tuesday.
The House passed the HALT Fentanyl Act on Thursday in a bipartisan vote after 98 Democrats joined nearly all Republicans in backing the measure. The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.