WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) today voted to pass the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act, legislation she co-sponsored that would make permanent the temporary classification of fentanyl and fentanyl analogs as Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act (CSA). Drug overdoses, largely driven by fentanyl, are the leading cause of death among young adults 18 to 45 years old. Synthetic opioids like Fentanyl account for 66% of the total U.S. overdose deaths.
“West Virginia has been disproportionately impacted by the drug crisis, with fentanyl being one of the deadliest drugs that has made the crisis exponentially worse. The HALT Fentanyl Act will help equip law enforcement with the resources needed to crack down on traffickers and keep these deadly substances off the streets once and for all. I was proud to co-sponsor this bill and vote to pass it, allowing us to take another important step forward in our ongoing efforts to combat the crisis and protect West Virginians from the scourge of illicit fentanyl,” Senator Capito said.
The legislation also removes barriers that impede the ability of researchers to conduct studies on these substances and allows for exemptions if such research provides evidence that it would be beneficial for specific analogs to be classified differently than Schedule I, such as for medical purposes.
More than 107,000 people lost their lives to a drug overdose in 2023, including nearly 1,400 in West Virginia alone. Nearly 70% of those deaths across the country were attributed to opioids, including illegal fentanyl, which are largely manufactured in Mexico from raw materials supplied by China. In 2023, there were over 80 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills and nearly 12,000 pounds of fentanyl powder seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
