Pappas Pushes to Make Fentanyl a Schedule 1 Drug Permanently
This week, Rep. Chris Pappas, D-N.H., joined by his colleagues Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., and Ted Budd, R-N.C., introduced the Save Americans from the Fentanyl Emergency Act of 2022 to permanently schedule all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule 1 drugs to ensure law enforcement can keep them off the streets.
In April 2021, Pappas released the Extending Temporary Emergency Scheduling of Fentanyl Analogues Act, to extend the Drug Enforcement Agency’s temporary order to keep fentanyl-related substances in Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act.
This legislation was signed into law on May 4, 2021 but the temporary scheduling of the substances was previously at risk of sunsetting this month. The $1.5 trillion omnibus package that passed the House Wednesday night includes an extension of the temporary scheduling from March 11 to December 31, 2022.
The SAFE Act of 2022, if enacted, would permanently classify any fentanyl-related substances as Schedule 1 drugs, unless already listed in another classification or specifically exempted.
It would also define the type of compounds and molecular variations that count as analogues of fentanyl, and require the Government Accountability Office to issue a report within four years after enactment analyzing the effect of permanent scheduling of fentanyl analogues.
Further, the act would require the attorney general to publish a list of substances that meet the classification of a fentanyl-related substance within 60 days of determination and allow the secretary of Health and Human Services to contract with private entities and facilitate research into fentanyl-related substances.
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