Attorney General Bird Urges U.S. Senate to Pass HALT Fentanyl Act that Ends the Copycat Fentanyl Loophole and Saves Lives
DES MOINES—Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird today co-led 25 states in urging the U.S. Senate to pass the HALT Fentanyl Act, which will end the copycat fentanyl loophole and save American lives.
Since 2018, fentanyl has killed nearly as many Americans as World War II. The problem has only been made worse by Mexican drug cartels smuggling deadly Chinese-made copycat fentanyl across the southern border. Between October 2021 and June 2022 alone, U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized enough fentanyl to kill the entire American population five times over.
“Fentanyl is a vicious killer that was only made worse by years of disastrous Biden-Harris open borders,” said Attorney General Bird. “To end the deadly fentanyl crisis, we must take immediate action. I am grateful to Senators Grassley and Ernst for leading to push this legislation across the finish line, but there is still work to do. I’m calling on the U.S. Senate to pass the bipartisan HALT Fentanyl Act, which will close the copycat fentanyl loophole, put criminal drug cartels and street dealers behind bars, and save American lives.”
Copycat fentanyl, or fentanyl analogues, are lab-created drugs that are created to work around U.S. law. These fentanyl analogues are often more harmful than prescription fentanyl. Classifying fentanyl analogues as Schedule I drugs closes a loophole for drug dealers by giving law enforcement the tools to prosecute anyone who sells or uses the deadly copycat fentanyl analogues. Congress temporarily classified fentanyl and fentanyl analogues as Schedule I drugs, but that status is set to expire March 31. The HALT Fentanyl Act will permanently fix the problem.
The U.S. House of Representatives passed the HALT Fentanyl Act law with an overwhelming bipartisan majority. The States are now calling on the Senate to do the same.
Iowa and Virginia co-led the letter. They were joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Read the full letter here.
Read the full exclusive here.
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