H.A.L.T. = More Harm

The H.A.L.T. Act Increases the Harms of Fentanyl

On February 6, 2025 the US House of Representatives passed the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act by a vote of 312 to 108. It now awaits a vote before the US Senate.

Unfortunately, the only thing that H.A.L.T. is likely to stop is a harm reduction approach to ending fentanyl-related deaths.

H.A.L.T. classified Fentanyl Related Substances (FRS) as Schedule 1, a category of substance that is illegal under all circumstances and has been deemed to have no medical value. It increases penalties, including mandatory minimum prison sentences, for possession of any substance that is laced with fentanyl and fentanyl analogues, including substances that are inert and harmless.

We all know that the supply of drugs that are prohibited by law is contaminated with innumerable substances, from fentanyl to the industrial chemical BTMPS, which has caused respiratory and cardiotoxicity, blindness, and sudden death in animals. Most people who possess any sort of street drug do not know what it contains and have no way of knowing, as the supply is illegal and therefore unregulated. Substances that cause no harm, such as benzyl fentanyl, are also criminalized under this act, which makes them Schedule 1, regardless of their lack of toxicity to humans.

H.A.L.T. calls for mandatory minimum sentences of 10 years prison time for possession of 100 grams or more of fentanyl analogues. Mandatory minimum sentences put people in jail who are not violent or dangerous, but who may become so after enduring the trauma of prison. Judges are deprived of their own discretion in considering a defendant’s history, the facts of the case, and the actual harm of the alleged crime. Mandatory minimums put more power into the hands of prosecutors, who are more likely to charge people of color with FRS crimes than white people, thus resulting in more people of color ending up in a prison system where they are already disproportionately incarcerated. According to the United States Sentencing Commission: January 2021, “Fentanyl and Fentanyl Analogues: Federal Trends and Trafficking Patterns”, p. 28, “Black offenders constituted a greater proportion of fentanyl and fentanyl analogue offenders (40.5% and 58.9%, respectively) than other drug offenders (26.5%).”

This act will also discourage people from reporting overdoses that may be reversible. Instead of calling 911 and giving a victim the chance to receive life-saving naloxone, friends will be afraid of being charged under the H.A.L.T. act and will flee the scene. Making people choose between saving their friends and possibly going to jail will cause more deaths, not save lives.

H.A.L.T. will stop all research into possible medical uses for fentanyl analogues, which prevents scientists from using harmless fentanyl analogues to create medications that might fight opioid addiction. There is no scientific reason for this prohibition. Medical research is highly regulated, and the protection of human and animal subjects is enshrined both in law and medical ethics, as enforced by research universities, Institutional Review Boards, and funding agencies as well as by state and federal governments. Ending this research serves an ideological, not medical or moral purpose.

Ever since Prohibition of alcohol from 1920 to 1933, we have known that making a substance illegal only leads to more and more harmful production of that substance. People died by the thousands during Prohibition of alcohol that was contaminated with toxic chemicals because the supply was illegal and therefore unregulated. Alcohol users now pick up their supply safely at any corner bar or liquor store. While the harms of alcohol are many, they are mitigated by the fact that users can count on a safe supply. People who use drugs that are illegal are no different, but they are subjected to unnecessary risk because the supply is contaminated. H.A.L.T. will not end the contamination of the supply of drugs. It will only challenge the suppliers to lace the drugs with more and more toxic chemicals to evade the law, while people who use drugs suffer more and compounding harms.

They tell us the Controlled Substances Act was intended to protect public health, but it has done the opposite. There is no evidence that punitive drug scheduling reduces harm—only that it fuels stigma, disrupts the illicit market, and exacerbates the overdose crisis. We saw this play out recently in Pennsylvania when they scheduled xylazine. Shortly after, medetomidine emerged, proving that restricting one substance does not stop supply; it simply shifts the market to something new—often something worse.

We can do better. Providing test strips and kits, medical care that is free of judgment and punishment, naloxone on demand, and the medical gold standard of methadone or buprenorphine has already decreased the harms - and deaths - caused by the Drug War. Overdose deaths are down in some states for the first time in years because of these measures. Doubling down on punitive, ineffective measures will not save lives. It will take away more of our children, either by killing or imprisoning them, and leave more grieving families that should be whole.

***Call to Action! There is still time to stop this bill from advancing in the Senate. Contact your Senators BY WEDNESDAY 2/28 and tell them to VOTE NO on Senate Bill 331. Tell them we need a public health-centered framework for regulation. The Controlled Substances Act has led to mass incarceration, stigma, and barriers to research. This bill is not about saving lives. Find you Senator here: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member

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