HR 27 · 119th CongressPassed Chamber

HALT Fentanyl Act

Latest updateFeb 6, 2025

Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 312 - 108 (Roll no. 33). (text: CR H520-522)

Crime and Law Enforcement

Sponsor

H. Griffith

Introduced

January 3, 2025

Latest action

February 10, 2025

Legislative Progress

How far this bill has traveled through Congress

Introduced

Bill filed in chamber

Committee

Reviewed & reported

Passed Chamber

House or Senate vote

Passed Both

House & Senate agree

President

Sent to White House

Enacted

Signed into law

Introduced

Bill filed in chamber

Committee

Reviewed & reported

Passed Chamber

House or Senate vote

Passed Both

House & Senate agree

President

Sent to White House

Enacted

Signed into law

Latest Action

Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

Plain-Language Summary

AI Generated

Under current law, the Controlled Substances Act establishes a scheduling system that classifies drugs by their abuse potential and medical utility. Fentanyl and its known chemical variants are listed individually in Schedule I, the most restrictive category. However, chemists can create new fentanyl-like substances by making minor structural modifications to the fentanyl molecule—a practice known as "designer drug" synthesis. These novel compounds often fall into legal gray areas because they are not yet specifically named in the scheduling system, allowing them to circulate before the Drug Enforcement Administration can formally add them to the controlled list.

The HALT Fentanyl Act amends the Controlled Substances Act to automatically place any substance structurally related to fentanyl into Schedule I, regardless of whether it has been individually identified. The Attorney General gains authority to publish a list of known fentanyl-related substances in the Federal Register for reference, but the absence of a substance from that list does not protect it from control if it meets the chemical definition. The bill defines "fentanyl-related substance" to include any compound that modifies fentanyl's structure through five categories of chemical changes: replacing the phenyl ring, substituting the phenethyl group, modifying the piperidine ring, replacing the aniline ring, or replacing the N-propionyl group. Substances already controlled by the Attorney General or listed in other schedules remain exempt from this blanket scheduling.

The law takes effect immediately upon enactment. The Attorney General must establish an electronic submission system for researchers to notify the agency of fentanyl-related substance research. Researchers already registered for Schedule I or II work can begin qualifying research 30 days after notifying the Attorney General; those without prior registration receive a decision within 45 days. The bill also streamlines research registration by allowing multiple researchers at the same institution to work under a single registration, permitting research across multiple sites in the same city or county under one license, and eliminating redundant inspections when researchers add a second controlled substance in the same or higher schedule. The Department of Justice Inspector General must report within one year on fentanyl research conducted under these expedited procedures.

Key Provisions

1Establish automatic Schedule I control for any substance structurally related to fentanyl through specified chemical modifications, closing the designer drug loophole that previously allowed novel fentanyl variants to evade scheduling.
2Authorize the Attorney General to publish a list of known fentanyl-related substances in the Federal Register for informational purposes, though absence from the list does not prevent a substance from being controlled if it meets the statutory definition.
3Establish an expedited 30-day notification process for researchers already registered to conduct Schedule I or II research to begin work with fentanyl-related substances, and a 45-day registration process for new researchers conducting federally funded or agency-sponsored research.
4Permit multiple researchers at the same institution to conduct research under a single registration and allow research across multiple sites within the same city or county under one license, reducing administrative burden for multi-site studies.
5Require the Department of Justice Inspector General to complete a study and report within one year on research with fentanyl-related substances conducted under the expedited procedures established by this Act.

★ Why this matters

The bill closes a significant enforcement gap by preventing chemists from creating new fentanyl variants that temporarily escape legal control. Instead of waiting for the Drug Enforcement Administration to identify and formally schedule each new designer fentanyl, the law automatically criminalizes any substance meeting the structural definition. This accelerates law enforcement's ability to prosecute trafficking of novel fentanyl-like drugs. The streamlined research registration process reduces bureaucratic delays for legitimate scientists studying fentanyl and related compounds, potentially accelerating development of treatments and overdose interventions.

● Who this affects

Illicit drug manufacturers and traffickers who produce novel fentanyl variants will face immediate criminal liability rather than a window of legal ambiguity. Researchers at universities, hospitals, and federal agencies—including the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and Department of Veterans Affairs—conducting fentanyl research will benefit from faster registration and reduced paperwork. Law enforcement agencies, particularly the Drug Enforcement Administration and Department of Justice, gain clearer authority to prosecute designer fentanyl trafficking. Pharmaceutical companies developing fentanyl-based medications and overdose treatments may experience faster research timelines through streamlined registration procedures.

Bill Text

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<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 H. R. 27

                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 10, 2025

  Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

                                 AN ACT

 
 To amend the Controlled Substances Act with respect to the scheduling 
        of fentanyl-related substances, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Halt All Lethal Trafficking of 
Fentanyl Act'' or the ``HALT Fentanyl Act''.

SEC. 2. CLASS SCHEDULING OF FENTANYL-RELATED SUBSTANCES.

    Section 202(c) of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)) 
is amended by adding at the end of schedule I the following:
    ``(e)(1) Unless specifically exempted or unless listed in another 
schedule, any material, compound, mixture, or preparation which 
contains any quantity of a fentanyl-related substance, or which 
contains the salts, isomers, and salts of isomers of a fentanyl-related 
substance whenever the existence of such salts, isomers, and salts of 
isomers is possible within the specific chemical designation.
            ``(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), except as provided in 
        paragraph (3), the term `fentanyl-related substance' means any 
        substance that is structurally related to fentanyl by 1 or more 
        of the following modifications:
                    ``(A) By replacement of the phenyl portion of the 
                phenethyl group by any monocycle, whether or not 
                further substituted in or on the monocycle.
                    ``(B) By substitution in or on the phenethyl group 
                with alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyl, hydroxyl, halo, 
                haloalkyl, amino, or nitro groups.
                    ``(C) By substitution in or on the piperidine ring 
                with alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyl, ester, ether, hydroxyl, 
                halo, haloalkyl, amino, or nitro groups.
                    ``(D) By replacement of the aniline ring with any 
                aromatic monocycle whether or not further substituted 
                in or on the aromatic monocycle.
                    ``(E) By replacement of the N-propionyl group with 
                another acyl group.
            ``(3) A substance that satisfies the definition of the term 
        `fentanyl-related substance' in paragraph (2) shall nonetheless 
        not be treated as a fentanyl-related substance subject to this 
        schedule if the substance--
                    ``(A) is controlled by action of the Attorney 
                General under section 201; or
                    ``(B) is otherwise expressly listed in a schedule 
                other than this schedule.
            ``(4)(A) The Attorney General may by order publish in the 
        Federal Register a…

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Angela Alsobrooks

D-Maryland

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HALT Fentanyl Act

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