WATCH: Pappas Urges Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Permanently Schedule Fentanyl Analogues
Pappas has led the fight in Congress to permanently schedule all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs, securing several extensions of the temporary scheduling measure until permanent measures could be passed.
Last night Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), a member of the Bipartisan Fentanyl Prevention Caucus, urged his colleagues to join him in voting to pass bipartisan legislation to permanently schedule all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I drugs to ensure law enforcement can keep them off the streets and hold drug traffickers accountable. Watch his remarks here.
On February 6, 2018, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a temporary scheduling order that placed all fentanyl-related substances in Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act for two years. Following Pappas’s leadership, Congress has extended the order several times, and the scheduling of these substances is currently set to expire on September 30, 2025.
The legislation being considered by the House today, the HALT Fentanyl Act, contains identical key provisions from Pappas’s bipartisan SAFE Act, which he first introduced in the 117th Congress. It will permanently classify any fentanyl-related substance as a Schedule I drug.
Read his full remarks below or watch the video here:
Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to urge my colleagues to support the HALT Fentanyl Act when it comes to the floor tomorrow.
For the past five years, I have engaged with law enforcement, public health experts, and colleagues across the aisle to ensure the scheduling of fentanyl analogues doesn’t lapse and is finally made permanent.
Permanent scheduling will ensure law enforcement retains important tools they need to tackle the opioid crisis and hold traffickers accountable, tools that have helped drive down drug-related deaths in New Hampshire to its lowest level in 10 years.
This is thanks to New Hampshire’s all-hands-on-deck approach: pairing enforcement with treatment to bring down both the supply of opioids reaching our communities, as well as the demand for them.
There is still work to be done, including getting this bill across the finish line, and restoring vital funding cut by the current administration for treatment and recovery.
I will continue fighting to ensure our communities have the support they need to save lives and confront addiction head on.
I yield back.