Final Chance: Don’t Let Congress Halt Health Approaches to Fentanyl

The U.S. Senate will vote very soon on the HALT Fentanyl Act. If passed, it moves to President Trump to become law—this is our last chance to stop it.

This bill permanently classifies all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I without testing for medical benefits, blocking research that could lead to new overdose treatments. It also expands mandatory minimums, imposing harsh penalties that do not consider individual circumstances, while separating families, and diverting resources from health solutions.

We are all concerned about fentanyl and overdose, that’s why DPA will keep fighting for the health approaches we need to keep us all safe. But we can’t arrest our way out of this crisis. Tell your U.S. Senators to oppose this bill and prioritize health over handcuffs.

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Subject

Dear Senator,

Message Body

I urge you to vote NO on the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl (HALT) Act (S. 331). This bill permanently schedules fentanyl-related substances (FRS) on Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) and imposes harsh mandatory minimums for fentanyl analogues. The vast majority of fentanyl-related substances have never been researched or tested to determine potential harm. In fact, of the few the FDA did test, at least one showed properties similar to the overdose-reversing medication naloxone: https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4994371/user-clip-fda. And others were found to be completely harmless. Yet the HALT Fentanyl Act would create barriers to research that can help us learn more about these substances, including uncovering potential new overdose medications.

This legislation doubles down on mass incarceration and expands the use of severe mandatory minimums at a time when there is broad bipartisan support for treating the opioid crisis as a public health issue.

We have more than three decades of evidence that enforcement-first policies fail to reduce drug use and disproportionately harm communities of color. Any policy permanently scheduling these substances will only exacerbate these outcomes as well as over-policing and incarceration of communities of color.

Illicit fentanyl and fentanyl analogues are a major public health issue that requires public health solutions. Rather than extend anti-science policies that will exacerbate mass incarceration and racial disparities in drug policy, Congress and the Trump Administration should prioritize public health legislation that applies evidence-based approaches to illicit fentanyl.

For more than 50 years, the U.S. has been criminalizing people for using drugs. Yet we continue to lose nearly 100,000 people each year to overdose. When the Trump administration first criminalized all fentanyl-related substances in 2018, overdose deaths rose 60% in four years—from 67,367 deaths in 2018 to 107,941 in 2022.

Recent data show that overdose deaths are finally starting to decrease. And that’s largely thanks to health and harm reduction solutions including the overdose/fentanyl reversal drug naloxone, fentanyl test strips—which can detect fentanyl in drugs—and medications for opioid use disorder that help people stay alive and have a shot at recovery by reducing cravings.  We must invest more in these health approaches that are saving lives, but the HALT Fentanyl Act is a step in the opposite direction. Saving lives requires a new approach based in health, science, and evidence – not more punishment. Please vote NO on the HALT Fentanyl Act.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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