Staff Reports
The House of Representatives passed the HALT Fentanyl Act, which wants to put derivatives of fentanyl on the government list of Schedule I drugs. With this classification, the civil and criminal fines for using it would go up, which has been a point of contention for groups on the left. Democrats and so-called civil rights groups are against this bill because they think it would make fear-based regulation even more of a solution to a public health problem.
The House is making Fentanyl penalties stifferhttps://t.co/BAZoaJei6u
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) May 25, 2023
But people who support the bill say that it will get illegal and addictive drugs off the streets, save lives, and encourage study into fentanyl analogues to find ways to use them in medicine. Under the HALT Fentanyl Act, any substance that has any amount of a fentanyl-related chemical will be put in Schedule I, along with heroin, cannabis, LSD, and ecstasy, which are also illegal. Also, the bill has harsher punishments for people who break it, like a required minimum sentence of 10 years in prison for making or selling anything with fentanyl in it.
In 2022, an estimated 109,680 people died of drug overdoses. 75,000 of those deaths were fentanyl-related.
House Republicans have a solution: the HALT Fentanyl Act. pic.twitter.com/a4iMPIVG77
— Elise Stefanik (@EliseStefanik) May 24, 2023
The HALT Fentanyl Act has been backed by the Biden government, which says that the bill is important for improving public safety and saving lives. The bill also has a part called "Expedited Procedures," which makes it easier for researchers to get permits and changes how they can study substances linked to fentanyl.
The HALT Fentanyl Act is backed by Republican Representatives Morgan Griffith of Virginia and Bob Latta of Ohio. The bill passed by a vote of 289-133, with 74 Democrats voting in favor. The HALT Fentanyl Act also had three changes. One of them would have stopped the bill from going into action until it was proven that it would cut down on overdose deaths. But it didn't pass because 233 Democrats voted against it and 190 Democrats voted for it.
In conclusion, the HALT Fentanyl Act brings much-needed changes to the way study is done on substances related to fentanyl, as well as tougher punishments for those who break the law. The Biden government is in favor of the bill, and fentanyl analogues need to be taken off the streets as soon as possible. People on the left and Democrats who are afraid of the "war on drugs" can say what they want, but they can't take away from the hard work that went into the HALT Fentanyl Act. This bill needs to pass the Senate to save lives and make the world a better place.
