WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) penned an op-ed in the Washington Times after joining President Trump on stage for the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act bill singing. With President Trump’s signature, Cassidy’s bill will strengthen penalties for fentanyl dealers and permanently schedule fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act.
“’One of the more important things that we will ever sign.’ Those are the words that President Donald Trump said as I joined him on stage for the signing of my HALT Fentanyl Act. He is absolutely right. Together, President Trump and I are saving American lives by giving law enforcement another tool to crack down on fentanyl dealers,” wrote Dr. Cassidy.
“In his first thirty days back in office, President Trump curbed the flow of fentanyl into our country by securing the southern border. I voted to pass the One Big, Beautiful Bill to make this progress permanent. The HALT Fentanyl Act complements that success,” continued Dr. Cassidy.
Read the full op-ed here or below.
With President Trump’s signature, my HALT Fentanyl Act will save lives
“One of the more important things that we will ever sign.” Those are the words that President Donald Trump said as I joined him on stage for the signing of my Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act. He is absolutely right. Together, President Trump and I are saving American lives by giving law enforcement another tool to crack down on fentanyl dealers.
Drug overdoses are the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45, and synthetic opioids, like fentanyl, account for 68 percent of total overdoses. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, more than 70,000people died in 2023 from fentanyl overdoses, and over 107,000 Americans lost their lives to drug overdoses the year before that.
These statistics represent real stories. At the bill signing event, a mother shared that her son was peer-pressured into trying fentanyl, and because of one pill, the child died.
Roughly 150 mothers, fathers, students, and neighbors will lose their lives to an opioid overdose every day. My goal is to bring that number down to zero.
Republicans are wasting no time doing so. In his first thirty days back in office, President Trump curbed the flow of fentanyl into our country by securing the southern border. I voted to pass the One Big, Beautiful Bill to make this progress permanent. The HALT Fentanyl Act complements that success. He then got the Mexican president to go after the cartels. He then also threatened China with tariffs to have them crack down on the shipment of fentanyl-related chemicals to Mexico.
In addition to strengthening penalties for fentanyl dealers, the bill permanently schedules fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. This gives law enforcement the tools they need to prevent criminals from gaming the system by creating new substances to avoid the law. Now, when the cartels smuggle in a fentanyl knockoff, if it addicts and kills like fentanyl, then they go to jail like they’re pushing fentanyl.
President Trump signing the HALT Fentanyl Act into law is one more step in combating the illegal fentanyl epidemic, an epidemic reflected among those diagnosed with both mental illness and addiction. Patients who have both diagnoses need specialized support.
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