# S. 331 (119th): Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or the HALT Fentanyl Act This act permanently places fentanyl-related substances as a class into schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act

Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or the HALT Fentanyl Act This act 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. Under the act, offenses involving fentanyl-related substances are triggered by the same quantity thresholds and subject to the same penalties as offenses involving fentanyl analogues (e.g., offenses involving 100 grams or more trigger a 10-year mandatory minimum prison term). Additionally, the act establishes a new, alternative registration process for certain schedule I research. The act also makes several other changes to registration requirements for conducting research with controlled substances, including permitting a single registration for related research sites in certain circumstances, waiving the requirement for a new inspection in certain situations, and allowing a registered researcher to perform certain manufacturing activities with small quantities of a substance without obtaining a manufacturing registration. Finally, the act expresses the sense that Congress agrees with the interpretation of the Controlled Substances Act in United States v. McCray , a 2018 case decided by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. In that case, the court held that butyryl fentanyl, a controlled substance, can be considered an analogue of fentanyl even though, under the Controlled Substances Act, the term controlled substance analogue specifically excludes a controlled substance.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: abuse_accountability. Category: justice_truth. Lane tag: general equity.
Lane: controlled_substances. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: drug_policy. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: fentanyl. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: fentanyl_trafficking. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: mandatory_minimums. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: research_registration. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: scheduling. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: good. A yea supports the bill. A nay is the penalized direction when the tag is scored as a protection. A yea on a credit tag is a credit.
Roll 166: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Roll 124: On the Cloture Motion S. 331. Vote type: cloture.
Roll 127: On Passage of the Bill S. 331. Vote type: final_passage.
Roll 110: On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed S. 331. Vote type: cloture.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill's core operation restrains a named and deadly harm, the trafficking of fentanyl-related substances, by strengthening civil and criminal controls against it. That is a legitimate exercise of civil justice and supports a good classification. The mandatory minimum structure and the research-registration changes are prudential or proportionality concerns, not direct moral evil, so they do not change the primary direction.
Theological note: Civil authority bears the sword to restrain lethal trafficking and protect the neighbor, so the bill addresses a real harm that falls within the civil magistrate's proper task of general equity. Its central concern is the protection of life from a deadly drug supply. Its mandatory minimums and research-registration changes raise questions of proportionate punishment and prudent regulation that call for careful weighing rather than a hard moral verdict.

## Recorded votes

Roll 166: On Passage. Yea 321 · Nay 104 · Other 7.
Roll 124: On the Cloture Motion S. 331. Yea 84 · Nay 15 · Other 1.
Roll 127: On Passage of the Bill S. 331. Yea 84 · Nay 16 · Other 0.
Roll 110: On Cloture on the Motion to Proceed S. 331. Yea 82 · Nay 12 · Other 6.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/s-331-119/