Tennessee U.S. Representative Mark Green (R-TN-07), who chairs the U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security, applauded the passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act on Thursday.
The Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act – or the HALT Fentanyl Act – passed the House on Thursday by a 312-108 vote.
The bill permanently places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.
A schedule I controlled substance is a “drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act.”
Yesterday, @HouseGOP passed the HALT Fentanyl Act—a critical step in empowering law enforcement to eradicate this deadly drug from our communities.
More from @RepMarkGreen, @RepPfluger & @repgabeevans on the passage of this important bill 👇 pic.twitter.com/1AnooLV93w
— House Homeland GOP (@HomelandGOP) February 7, 2025
“Over the past four years, open borders have allowed cartels to smuggle fentanyl and its analogues into every community in the country––devastating families and profiting transnational criminal organizations and Communist China,” House Homeland Committee Chairman Green said in a statement.
“House Republicans are working to put an end to the cartels’ reign of terror by ensuring law enforcement has the tools to eliminate fentanyl-related poisons from our streets and prosecute those trafficking it,” Green added.
All present members of the Tennessee congressional delegation voted with the majority to pass the bill, including Democrat U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09). Congressman Andy Ogles (R-TN-05) did not vote.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more potent than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl is capable of killing a grown adult, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
The leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 45 is fentanyl overdose.
A new study published by the law firm group White Law PLLC shows that 79,355 Americans died from opioid overdoses in 2023 – 75 percent of which were caused by fentanyl.
Tennessee recorded a total of 2,930 opioid-related deaths in 2023, averaging 39.6 deaths per 100,000 people – the fifth highest in the nation. Of the 2,930 opioid-related deaths in the Volunteer State, 63 percent involved fentanyl.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
