This is nothing new. Lawmakers are not fundamentally altering existing federal fentanyl policy; they are simply continuing a framework that has failed over the past seven years to stop sellers of illicit fentanyl from meeting market demand. Celebrating the passage of the HALT Fentanyl Act as a new effort to combat fentanyl trafficking and overdose deaths is merely an example of performance art.
By classifying a drug as Schedule I, the DEA determines it to have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.” The DEA categorizes cannabis, heroin, and psychedelic drugs as Schedule I. Cops may not see these substances as medically valuable, but many physicians might disagree.
No reasonable person would argue that cannabis has “no currently accepted medical use.” As early as 1916, William Osler, often referred to as the “father of modern medicine,” recommended cannabis as the drug of choice for treating migraines. Cannabis’s history of accepted medical use goes all the way back to at least 2,800 B.C. Heroin is a semisynthetic opioid that is considerably less potent than Schedule II hydromorphone and is included in the drug formularies of several affluent countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Switzerland, and Germany, where it is used to manage pain and treat addiction. Nowadays, most people recognize the therapeutic potential of psychedelics, including some members of Congress.
But the HALT Fentanyl Act is also delusional. For decades, Schedule I classification has done nothing to halt the flow and use of cannabis, heroin, or psychedelics. Cannabis and psychedelic use is at historic highs, and heroin use is making a significant comeback after fentanyl nearly replaced it during the COVID-19 pandemic. Why should lawmakers expect things to work out any differently for fentanyl-related substances?
Classifying fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I will hinder progress in therapeutic research. Although the latest version of the HALT Fentanyl Act includes provisions intended to alleviate some burdens, it will not substantially lessen the multiple regulatory challenges that clinical researchers must overcome before the DEA allows them to conduct studies to determine whether Schedule I drugs can be used to treat certain conditions. We may never know if a currently banned fentanyl-related substance could help reverse overdoses or treat addiction.
The HALT Fentanyl Act increases mandatory minimum sentences for the possession or distribution of illicit fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances. Research indicates that this approach does not serve as an effective deterrent. Instead, it merely fills prisons, ruins the futures of drug users, disrupts their families, and provides aggressive prosecutors with coercive plea-bargaining strategies. Additionally, threatening drug dealers with life imprisonment or the death penalty is unlikely to deter the drug trade. Most drug dealers already consider the risk of death when entering the business and, realistically, fear being killed by rival cartels and dealers more than by the United States Department of Justice.
