OAN’s Noah Herring
4:20 PM – Monday, May 22, 2023
On Monday, the White House offered support for a bill brought forth by two House Republicans that would increase penalties for fentanyl trafficking as well as recognize it as a Schedule 1 substance – the highest classification.
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The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement praising the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl, or HALT Fentanyl Act with an anticipated House floor vote coming Thursday.
Reps. Morgan Grifith (R-VA.) and Bob Latta (R-Ohio) were the two Republicans who introduced the bill earlier this year. In a memo, the White House stated 52 cosigners are Republican as the bill aligns with President Biden’s public safety agenda. There has not been a Democrat that has co-sponsored the bill.
The memo stated, “”The Administration’s 2021 recommendations to Congress included additional provisions to improve public safety. The Administration calls on Congress to pass all of these critical measures to improve public safety and save lives.”
Fentanyl has only temporarily been moved to a Schedule 1 drug through 2024. House Republicans have made it a priority to move fentanyl to Schedule 1 permanently as it allows law enforcement to have more authority to seize the drug and hold dealers accountable.
Fentanyl is a man-made drug that has the ability to induce a coma or kill someone even with the smallest amounts of the substance. Drug overdoses have hit a record high in 2021 with Fetynal being a lead contributor to the more than 100,000 overdose deaths.
In the U.S., adults aged 18-45 were more likely to die consuming fentanyl than they were to die in a car accident, COVID, suicide, or heart attack.
Fentanyl captures have increased over the past decade indicating detection of the substance from federal police has been more successful.
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