Senator Young, colleagues introduce bill to combat the Fentanyl epidemic, support law enforcement

Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 6:00 PM

U.S. Senator Todd Young (R-Ind.) joined colleagues in reintroducing the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act, which would permanently list fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I substances under the Controlled Substances Act. Companion legislation passed the House of Representatives earlier this week.

“Illegally-created fentanyl derivatives are pouring across the southern border and devastating communities in Indiana and across the country. The HALT Fentanyl Act would permanently classify these deadly drugs as Schedule I substances to ensure their sale and distribution can be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. I urge the Senate to pass this important legislation as soon as possible to empower law enforcement with this critical tool in the fight against opioids,” said Senator Young.

Fentanyl is a scheduled substance, but Mexican drug cartels make small chemical tweaks to fentanyl to produce drugs—fentanyl-related substances—with similar dangerous effects that are not controlled.

In response to this crisis, the DEA exercised its authority to temporarily classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. That temporary scheduling order will expire on March 31, 2025, if Congress does not act.

Under the HALT Fentanyl Act, fentanyl-related substances would remain Schedule I. In addition, the bill clarifies that the mandatory minimum penalties that apply to fentanyl also apply to the trafficking of fentanyl-related substances.

In addition to Senator Young, Senators John Kennedy (R-La.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Steve Daines (R-Mont.), Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) also introduced the legislation.

Senator Young helped lead the HALT Fentanyl Act in 2023.

Full legislative text is available here.

Background:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that in 2023 there were 81,083 overdose deaths in the U.S. that involved opioids.

In 2024, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized 21,889 pounds of fentanyl, enough to kill more than 4.9 billion people (assuming a lethal dose of two milligrams)—or enough to wipe out the entire U.S. population more than 14 times over.