03.06.25

Senate Advances Bipartisan Bill to Permanently Classify Illicit Fentanyl Knockoffs as Schedule I Drugs

Legislation would also enable research into fentanyl-related substances

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the United States Senate voted 82-12 to advance the bipartisan Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act. U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation and senior member of the Senate Finance Committee, voted in favor of the bill.

“The HALT Fentanyl Act maintains strong penalties for trafficking fentanyl, while allowing for important scientific research and medical applications to continue,” said Sen. Cantwell. “We still have more work to do on other bills to address the fentanyl scourge, from providing more treatment options, to additional resources for first responders, to more tools for law enforcement to stop traffickers and dealers.”

The bill now awaits final passage by the Senate.

The legislation would:

Permanently schedule illicit fentanyl-related substances:

  • Amends the Controlled Substances Act to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I.
  • Ends the game of whack-a-mole Congress has played since 2018; Congress has repeatedly extended the first Trump administration’s temporary Schedule I classification of fentanyl-related substances.
  • Locks in permanent classification of fentanyl-related substances before its temporary Schedule I status expires on March 31, 2025.

Protect patients’ access to legitimate, FDA-approved fentanyl:

  • Preserves the Schedule II status and FDA-approved use of fentanyl for legitimate medical purposes:
    • Nine major medical associations affirmed the HALT Fentanyl Act’s distinction between illicit, fentanyl-related substances and FDA-approved fentanyl, citing the bill’s ability to, “effectively combat the illicit fentanyl epidemic while preserving access to legitimate, physician-directed pain management.”

Support law enforcement and codify existing penalties:

  • Maintains existing criminal penalties for fentanyl trafficking to ensure illicit manufacturers and traffickers can be fully prosecuted and victims and their families receive justice.
    • Penalties under the HALT Fentanyl Act are identical to what current law dictates under the temporary scheduling of fentanyl-related substances.
  • Utilizes the same class-scheduling rubric enacted seven years ago. This rubric has only ever been used to target lethal fentanyl-related substances and arrest defendants convicted of illicit drug trafficking and manufacturing.

Advance scientific and medical research:

  • Streamlines the registration process for Schedule I researchers, allowing more scientists to study fentanyl-related substances.
  • Includes provisions to permit a single registration for related research sites, allowing researchers with ongoing studies to examine newly added fentanyl-related substances and authorize registered researchers to manufacture small quantities of fentanyl-related substances without a separate registration.

In 2023 and 2024, Sen. Cantwell traveled across the State of Washington to 10 communities -- Tacoma, Everett, Tri-Cities, Seattle, Spokane, Vancouver, Port Angeles, Walla Walla, Yakima, and Longview – hearing from people on the front lines of the fentanyl crisis, including first responders, law enforcement, health care providers, and people with firsthand experience of fentanyl addiction.  She also participated in the National Tribal Opioid Summit, a gathering of approximately 900 tribal leaders, health care workers, and first responders from across the country hosted by the Tulalip Tribes following the first-ever statewide summit hosted by the Lummi Nation.  Sen. Cantwell has since used what she heard in those roundtables and related events to craft and champion specific legislative solutions, including:

  • The Stop Smuggling Illicit Synthetic Drugs on U.S. Transportation Networks Act, which would crack down on the trafficking of illicit synthetic drugs, like fentanyl, using the U.S. transportation network;
  • The Opioid Overdose Data Collection Enhancement Act, which would expand the use of tools that record fatal and nonfatal overdoses in near-real time and help first responders deploy resources faster;
  • The FEND Off Fentanyl Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden, which will help U.S. government agencies disrupt opioid supply chains by imposing sanctions on traffickers and fighting money laundering;
  • The Fight Illicit Pill Presses Act, which would require that all pill presses be engraved with a serial number and impose penalties for the removal or alteration of the number.;
  • The Combating Illicit Xylazine Act, which would list xylazine as a Schedule III controlled substance while protecting the drug’s legal use by veterinarians, farmers, and ranchers, enable the Drug Enforcement Administration to track xylazine’s manufacturing to ensure it is not diverted to the illicit market;
  • The TRANQ Research Act of 2023, signed into law by President Biden, which will spur more research into xylazine (also called “tranq”) and other novel synthetic drugs by directing the National Institute of Standards and Technology to tackle these issues; and
  • The Parity for Tribal Law Enforcement Act, which would bolster Tribal law enforcement agencies by helping them hire and retain tribal law enforcement officers by raising their retirement, pension, death, and injury benefits to be on part with those of federal law enforcement officers.

In addition, Sen. Cantwell voted for a series of federal funding bills allocating $1.69 billion to combat fentanyl and other illicit drugs coming into the United States, including an additional $385.2 million to increase security at U.S. ports of entry, with the goal of catching more illegal drugs like fentanyl before they make it across the border.  Critical funding will go toward Non-Intrusive Inspection (NII) technology at land and sea ports of entries. NII technologies—like large-scale X-ray and Gamma ray imaging systems, as well as a variety of portable and handheld technologies—allow U.S. Customs and Border Protection to help detect and prevent contraband from being smuggled into the country without disrupting flow at the border.

A full timeline of Sen. Cantwell’s actions to combat the fentanyl crisis is available HERE.

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