Congress approves stiffer penalties for fentanyl trafficking
Pending Trump's signature, trafficking more than 100 grams of the synthetic opioid will be punishable by a minimum of 10 years in prison.
Fentanyl seized in California
With 321 votes in favor, including 100 Democrats, the House on Thursday passed a bill to increase penalties for trafficking fentanyl. Since the HALT Fentanyl Act had previously received Senate endorsement, it only needs Trump's signature to become law.
The new law provides for a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison for trafficking more than 100 grams of fentanyl or a similar substance.
With it, lawmakers are trying to close loopholes after realizing that cartels change the composition of fentanyl substances as they are outlawed. This bill permanently classifies imitations of fentanyl in Schedule 1, made up of drugs that have no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. They were already in this tier since 2018, but on a temporary basis.
"American communities continue to feel the impact of the fentanyl crisis, fueled in part by lethal fentanyl-related substances," Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.), sponsor of the bill, argued. The dual sanction, he said, was a "big step to help fight the crisis and save lives." "We now deliver this critical bill to President Trump to assist the Administration in its push to combat the fentanyl crisis."
Donald Trump made the fight against fentanyl one of his main campaign goals, hiking up arrests and imposing tariffs on Mexico and Canada.
The fentanyl crisis
This is less than the previous year, when this synthetic opioid, which is up to 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more than morphine, caused 76,000 deaths.
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