Jun. 16—A bill meant to give fentanyl traffickers more prison sentences and make it easier to research copycat drugs is headed to President Donald Trump’s desk after it passed the House Thursday.
Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., sponsored the HALT Fentanyl Act with Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy and Chuck Grassley to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act. In 2023, New Mexico had 948 overdose deaths, and fentanyl was involved in 65% of those deaths, according to the New Mexico Department of Health.
Sometimes people making and selling fentanyl change the chemical structure in an effort to avoid fentanyl trafficking charges. Since 2018, Congress has been temporarily classifying those copycat substances as Schedule I. That temporary classification has been repeatedly extended and is set to expire in September, but this bill would make it permanent. Fentanyl remains a Schedule II drug, because of its accepted medical use, according to a one-pager on the bill.
“I urge the president to immediately sign the HALT Fentanyl Act, which is urgently needed to help our law enforcement crack down on illegal trafficking and allow prosecutors to build stronger, longer-term criminal cases,” Heinrich said in a statement.
The bill would create mandatory minimum penalties of five years for 10 grams or more and 10 years for 100 grams or more of fentanyl-related substances that have no accepted medical use, and discretionary maximum penalties of 40 years for 10 grams or more and life for 100 grams or more.
“Despite tens-of-thousands of Americans dying from fentanyl overdose each year, Democrats refused to pass this commonsense bill when they controlled Congress and the White House,” Grassley said in a statement.
Opponents to the legislation like Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wa., say the bill is too broad and are critical of expanding mandatory minimum sentencing requirements.
“We need well-thought-out and meaningful solutions that address the root causes of addiction, expand resources to help those struggling, and work with medical professionals,” Jayapal said in a statement.
The bill will also make it easier for medical researchers to study fentanyl-related substances. It would create a new registration process for Schedule I drug research and cut some of the red tape for researchers — for example, by allowing a registered researcher to make small amounts of the drug they’re studying without getting a manufacturing registration.
Law enforcement officials in two of New Mexico’s most populous areas — Bernalillo and Doña Ana counties — have spoken in favor of the bill. Multiple law enforcement associations have also endorsed it.
Fentanyl seizures in Las Cruces first spiked in 2020, according to Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Strong, and it continues to be a significant issue. Fentanyl analogues have also shown up in the city. Doña Ana County had 49 fatal overdoses last year and at least 11 so far in 2025.
“And if you overlay our crime data, homelessness data, overdose data, whatever bad data you want to put on top of it, it coincides with our seizures of fentanyl,” Strong said. “So anything we can do to get a grasp on fentanyl and fentanyl trafficking, I think, will ultimately improve the quality of life of everybody in the city.”
The bill is not a panacea. New Mexico still needs more services for people with substance use disorder, ways to incentivize treatment and prevention efforts, Strong said.
New Mexico’s all-Democratic congressional delegation was split on support for the bill. Sen. Ben Ray Luján voted yes. In the House, Rep. Gabe Vasquez voted in favor, while Reps. Teresa Leger Fernández and Melanie Stansbury voted against it.