The bill must clean up the Senate before heading to the president’s desk.
The law permanently classifying fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I controlled substances passed the home on February 6th with bipartisan support.
98 Democrats, along with all but one Republicans, passed the Stop Fentanyl Act with 312-108 votes.
Fentanyl-related substances were first temporarily classified as Schedule I drugs (the same category as LSD, heroin and ecstasy) in 2018 under the first Trump administration. Since then, lawmakers have extended their orders several times, but have failed to make them permanent. It is scheduled to expire on March 31st.
The latest move to finalize the scheduling order comes amid the Trump administration’s crackdown on drug trafficking across borders, which has encouraged the spread of illegal fentanyl across the country.
In 2023, the Drug Enforcement Bureau seized more than 80 million counterfeit drugs mixed with fentanyl and 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder. That amounts to over 390 million lethal doses of fentanyl.
The impact of the fentanyl crisis on American families is disastrous.
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In the United States in 2023, more than 107,000 people died from drug overdose, with illegal fentanyl and other synthetic opioids making up nearly 70% of these deaths.
Among U.S. citizens aged 18-45, fentanyl overdose is currently the leading cause of death.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told a press conference on February 5 that the new bill was “a flowing out by law enforcement agencies seizing these deadly drugs, chasing producers and distributors.” “We can stop it.”
He added that the bill was based on the president’s efforts at the beginning of the week to stop the flow of illegal drugs from Mexico, Canada and China.
Due to tariff threats, President Donald Trump secured commitments from Mexico and Canada on February 3, sending additional resources and personnel to the US border to help curb illegal immigration and drug smuggling I did. In return, he delayed enforcement of the 25% tariffs he ordered from both countries on imports for 30 days.
On February 4th, the impact was a 10% tariff on goods from China, the main source of precursor chemicals that make up illegal fentanyl entering the United States.
The suspension fentanyl law is now heading towards the Senate, where an earlier version of the bill died under Democrats’ leadership.
Republicans, along with the new majority, hope to see different results this time. But they face a tougher fight in the Senate, and in the Senate, they need a 60 vote majority to get bills at the finish line. Their current advantage is 53–47, but bipartisan support for legislation in the House could foresee positive outcomes in the Senate.
