HALT Fentanyl Act
Summary
What This Bill Does
Permanently places fentanyl-related substances in Schedule I, expands related criminal-penalty and import-export provisions, streamlines certain Schedule I research registration pathways, directs rulemaking, and makes technical and applicability clarifications.
Who Benefits and How
Federal law-enforcement and prosecutors gain a permanent class-wide scheduling framework for fentanyl-related substances, while certain federally funded or investigational researchers gain a faster path for specified Schedule I research.
Department of Health and Human Services researchers, Department of Defense researchers, Department of Veterans Affairs researchers, academic universities, pharmaceutical manufacturers, biotech manufacturers, and principal investigators benefit from the research-registration provisions because qualifying Schedule I studies can proceed through faster notice-based or accelerated registration pathways.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Traffickers and other handlers of fentanyl-related substances face stronger permanent control and penalty exposure, and the Attorney General and DEA must implement research, rulemaking, and publication requirements.
The Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, Attorney General, controlled-substance manufacturers, drug distributors, and fentanyl-related substance traffickers bear the enforcement and implementation burden because the bill makes class-wide scheduling permanent, expands penalty hooks, and requires implementing rules.
Key Provisions
- Adds a class-wide Schedule I listing for fentanyl-related substances, subject to specified exceptions and Attorney General publication authority.
- Creates expedited notice-based or accelerated registration pathways for specified Schedule I research, including certain HHS, DOD, VA, and IND-related research, and addresses multi-site and small-quantity research activity.
- Makes technical corrections and requires a DOJ Inspector General study on fentanyl research.
- Extends penalty and import-export references to fentanyl-related substances, requires rulemaking, and specifies immediate applicability and interpretive effects.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Permanently places fentanyl-related substances in Schedule I, expands related criminal-penalty and import-export provisions, streamlines certain Schedule I research registration pathways, directs rulemaking, and makes technical and applicability clarifications.
Key Policy Areas
Drug Policy, Criminal Justice, Scientific Research, Public Health
Primary Purpose
Permanently places fentanyl-related substances in Schedule I, expands related criminal-penalty and import-export provisions, streamlines certain Schedule I research registration pathways, directs rulemaking, and makes technical and applicability clarifications.
Policy Domains
whole_bill
Identified Gains
- Department of Health and Human Services researchers
- Department of Defense researchers
- Department of Veterans Affairs researchers
- Academic universities
- Pharmaceutical manufacturers
- Biotech manufacturers
- Principal investigators
- Federal prosecutors
Identified Costs
- Department of Justice
- Drug Enforcement Administration
- Attorney General
- Controlled-substance manufacturers
- Drug distributors
- Fentanyl-related substance traffickers
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
Signed into LawBecame Public Law No: 119-26.
Signed by President.
Presented to President.
Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without …
On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 321 - …
Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas …
Considered as unfinished business. (consideration: CR H2806)
POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on S. …
The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
DEBATE - The House proceeded with one hour of debate …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Biotech companies developing Schedule I-based therapeutics, Drug manufacturers, distributors, and users of fentanyl-related substances, Manufacturers and distributors of controlled substances
Positive-direction: Biotech companies developing Schedule I-based therapeutics
Negative-direction: Drug manufacturers, distributors, and users of fentanyl-related substances, Manufacturers and distributors of controlled substances, Manufacturers, distributors, and users of fentanyl-related substances
Pharmaceutical researchers conducting Schedule I drug research under prior rules, Pharmaceutical researchers conducting federally-funded Schedule I drug research, Principal investigators at research institutions
Positive-direction: Pharmaceutical researchers conducting federally-funded Schedule I drug research, Principal investigators at research institutions, Research employees and lab technicians working under registered PIs
Negative-direction: Pharmaceutical researchers conducting Schedule I drug research under prior rules
Attorney General, DEA Drug Enforcement Administration, Federal research agencies (HHS, DoD, VA) conducting or funding Schedule I research
Positive-direction: Federal research agencies (HHS, DoD, VA) conducting or funding Schedule I research
Negative-direction: DEA Drug Enforcement Administration
Academic medical research institutions studying controlled substances, Academic medical research institutions under prior registration rules
Positive-direction: Academic medical research institutions studying controlled substances
Negative-direction: Academic medical research institutions under prior registration rules
Fentanyl-related substance traffickers
Attorney General and interested persons (e.g., legal entities, individuals)
On Passage
HALT Fentanyl Act
On Passage of the Bill S. 331
S. 331, as amended
On the Cloture Motion S. 331
Motion to Invoke Cloture: S. 331
On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed S. 331
Motion to Invoke Cloture: Motion to Proceed to S. 331
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "attorney_general"
- → Attorney General
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology