Stricter penalties for fentanyl-related drugs passes House with bipartisan vote

A Republican-led bill to impose harsher sentences for people convicted of fentanyl-like drug crimes narrowly passed the House on Thursday evening, with 98 Democrats supporting the measure. The GOP-sponsored Halt All Lethal Trafficking, or HALT, Fentanyl Act (H.R.27) will permanently classify drugs that are only slightly chemically different from fentanyl as Schedule I substances, the category reserved for the most dangerous types of drugs. The bill passed 312 to 108.

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“Fentanyl does not discriminate between what socioeconomic background or what family it destroys,” Rep. Rob Bresnahan (R-PA) told the Washington Examiner ahead of Thursday’s vote. “I’ve actually had a family member that passed away very tragically because of a fentanyl-related situation when she was 16 years old. So I’m a big believer in stopping and halting the flow of fentanyl that is literally killing our people.” 

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“This bill should have passed both chambers last congress. It should have passed with unanimous support,” Bresnahan said in his first House floor speech during debates over the bill Thursday. 

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