Attorney General Dave Sunday joined a multi-state coalition in a letter to the U.S. Senate asking for passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act, which will close a “copycat fentanyl” loophole and allow for more aggressive prosecution of traffickers.
“Copycat fentanyl,” or fentanyl-related substances, are lab-created variations of fentanyl that were not previously subjected to the same scheduling as fentanyl, under the federal Controlled Substance Act. That allowed for traffickers to avoid harsher penalties when prosecuted.
During a one-year period between 2023 and 2024, the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General seized nearly 3 million individual doses of fentanyl and an additional 50,000 fentanyl pills. The seized drugs included fentanyl-related substances.
The HALT Fentanyl Act would result in the permanent Class I scheduling of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances.
“The deadliest, most dangerous drugs should be scheduled as such. Synthetic opioid manufacturers and traffickers have exploited loopholes in scheduling classifications which contributed to widespread distribution of variations of fentanyl,” Attorney General Sunday said. “Those variations have the same disastrous effects as fentanyl, and this office remains committed to doing everything in our power to deter trafficking in Pennsylvania communities.”
“Each and every life lost leaves a family and community devastated, so it is imperative we act with urgency to combat this scourge.”
Since 2018, fentanyl has killed nearly as many Americans as World War II. The problem has only been made worse by Mexican drug cartels smuggling deadly Chinese-made copycat fentanyl across the southern border. Between October 2021 and June 2022 alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized enough fentanyl to kill the entire American population five times over.
Fentanyl-related substances are often more harmful than prescription fentanyl. Congress temporarily classified fentanyl and fentanyl analogues as Schedule I drugs, but that status is set to expire March 31. The HALT Fentanyl Act will permanently fix the problem.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the HALT Fentanyl Act law with an overwhelming bipartisan majority — Attorney General Sunday and the multi-state coalition are now calling on the Senate to do the same.
Iowa and Virginia co-led the letter. They were joined by Pennsylvania as well as Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Original source can be found here.