WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), Chuck Grassley (R-IA), and Martin Heinrich (D-NM) applaud the passage of the Halt Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act by the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. The HALT Fentanyl Act makes permanent the temporary classification of fentanyl-related substances as a Schedule I drug of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). The drug’s Schedule I classification is set to expire on March 31, 2025. The HALT Fentanyl Act builds on the momentum of the Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues (SOFA) Act introduced by U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI).
“Chinese fentanyl was pouring into the U.S. under President Biden’s open border. Law enforcement needs every tool possible to combat this,” said Dr. Cassidy. “I am grateful for Chairman Grassley’s quick work to move this through the Judiciary Committee. Let’s make it law.”
“The Senate Judiciary Committee’s broad, bipartisan passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act is an important step towards ending our nation’s deadly opioid epidemic,” said Senator Grassley. “Congress has a dwindling shot clock to pass this bill before fentanyl-related substances’ Schedule I status runs out. I urge my congressional colleagues to continue moving this legislation forward, so we can make permanent scheduling of fentanyl analogs the law of the land.”
“The HALT Fentanyl Act incorporates the permanent scheduling of fentanyl-related substances, which I first introduced in 2017 in the Stopping Overdoses of Fentanyl Analogues Act (SOFA). SOFA served as the template for the Trump administration’s temporary scheduling rule in 2018, and it recognizes the admirable devotion of Wisconsinites Dr. Tim Westlake and Lauri Badura. Ms. Badura founded Saving Others For Archie and made it her life’s mission to end the fentanyl crisis after losing her son, Archie, to fentanyl poisoning. I’m pleased SOFA will advance to the Senate floor under the HALT Fentanyl Act,”said Senator Johnson.
“I’m pleased that my HALT Fentanyl Act is one step closer to becoming law,” said Senator Heinrich. “My legislation now heads to the Senate floor, and I urge my colleagues to pass it. The HALT Fentanyl Act is urgently needed to help our law enforcement crack down on illegal trafficking, get deadly fentanyl out of our communities, and save lives.”
The bill now awaits a vote on the U.S. Senate floor. President Trump’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has confirmed that, if Congress passes the bill in its current form, the president will sign it.
Additionally, the bill has 24 U.S. Senate cosponsors and is supported by 40 advocacy groups, including 25 State Attorneys General, 11 major law enforcement organizations, nine major medical associations and Facing Fentanyl, a coalition of over 200 impacted family groups.
Background:
Drug overdoses, largely driven by fentanyl, are the leading cause of death among young adults 18 to 45 years old. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl account for 66 percent of the total U.S. overdose deaths. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there were an estimated 107,543 drug overdose deaths in the U.S. in 2023. This was primarily fueled by synthetic opioids, including illegal fentanyl, which are largely manufactured in Mexico from raw materials supplied by China. In 2022, there were over 50.6 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), more than doubling the amount seized in 2021.
In 2017, Johnson introduced SOFA in the U.S. Senate following the Wisconsin legislature’s unanimous adoption of a bill that mirrors the HALT Fentanyl Act. In 2019, Cassidy became a cosponsor of SOFA.
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