The Shadow
Wednesday, February 5, 2025 – The U.S. House of Representatives is preparing a vote this week on Rep. Griffith’s measure, H.R. 27, the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) of Fentanyl Act.
This bill would permanently classify fentanyl analogues as Schedule I substances, closing a dangerous loophole traffickers are exploiting. The lawmakers note that the temporary fentanyl analogue designation is set to expire in March.
Rep. Griffith published a joint op-ed with Rep. Bob Latta, the bill’s other chief sponsor, as well as House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain. Read their full op-ed in the Washington Examiner here or below.
The HALT Fentanyl Act gives Americans hope
The fentanyl crisis in America is an unnecessary story of anguish and despair, one that elicits pain and stifles hope.
For example, take 23-year-old college student, Zach Cullen, who was preparing for life beyond college. He spent four years delivering pizzas from Papa Johns and had an interest in developing a technology company.
Nine days after Zach’s birthday, his parents got painful news. They were informed by police that Zach, the youngest of their three boys, had died from a fentanyl-related poisoning.
Zach’s parents later testified before a House Energy and Commerce Committee roundtable demanding change. House Republicans committed to preventing future tragedies like his. We put pen to paper and worked on a bill to save lives and crack down on the fentanyl crisis: the HALT Fentanyl Act.
In 2023, of the more than 107,000 overdose deaths in the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that nearly 70 percent of those deaths involved a synthetic opioid, like fentanyl.
Part of the fentanyl crisis is driven by the rise in fentanyl analogues, which are fentanyl-related substances chemically altered to avoid being defined as fentanyl under U.S. criminal code. This means the penalties for trafficking these substances are not as severe as those for traditional fentanyl. Drug cartels have even attempted to exploit this loophole to get away with trafficking the illicit substances into the country.
A key component of the HALT Fentanyl Act would permanently classify fentanyl analogues as a Schedule I substance. This designation will equip our border patrol agents and law enforcement officials with the power to go after those who traffic fentanyl analogues into the country and throughout our communities.
What makes this legislation even more timely is that the Schedule I designation for fentanyl analogues currently operates on a temporary basis and is set to expire at the end of next month. Failure for Congress to act soon could exacerbate the fentanyl crisis.
It is important to note that this permanent designation does not prevent medical researchers from studying fentanyl analogues. The HALT Fentanyl Act would enable research into the potential medical uses of the roughly 4,800 fentanyl analogues that exist, and the bill does not impede medical providers from using fentanyl in medical practices when necessary.
It’s a win-win piece of legislation and we wish it could have been law sooner.
Almost two years ago, we passed the HALT Fentanyl Act out of the House. While the bill did garner bipartisan support, 132 House Democrats voted against the bill. And in Chuck Schumer’s Senate, Democrats refused to bring it up for a vote.
This week, we are glad to see the House will be voting on the Act once again. House Republicans are ready to make our communities safer and enhance medical research to prevent future poisonings.
And this time around, we implore all Democrats to join us in advancing this common-sense bill. They have a chance to join us on legislation that may be one of the first President Trump signs into law.
Over one-hundred thousand overdose deaths should have been a wakeup call. Even one is too many. Every single life lost to the fentanyl crisis is more than just a statistic.
We have not given up hope because families, like Zach Cullen’s, should not experience the heartbreak of losing a child to a fentanyl poisoning.
