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| Friend, I’m disappointed to share that the U.S. House just passed the HALT Fentanyl Act in a 289-133 vote. We know that increasing criminal penalties for fentanyl analogues is a harmful step in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, lawmakers gave into fear and misinformation instead of being guided by evidence. Saving lives requires a health approach to fentanyl and the overdose crisis, not more punishment. And we are so grateful for the thousands of supporters like you who told that to your Representatives to help us oppose this bill. While today’s vote is a setback, it’s not over. Now the fight goes to the Senate where we need your voice once again. Please urge your Senators to oppose the HALT Fentanyl Act and similar attempts to ramp up harsh drug penalties. Most Americans agree drug use is a health issue, not a criminal one. Yet many members of Congress continue to call for punitive criminal policies like the HALT Fentanyl Act despite history showing these policies hurt rather than help people. For more than 50 years, the U.S. has been criminalizing people for using drugs. But overdose continues to skyrocket. Punishing people has not kept us safer. It’s only making things worse. Criminalization is what led to the tragic overdose crisis. Crackdowns on prescription opioids and heroin incentivized the flow of fentanyl into the illicit drug supply, which is now the leading driver of overdose deaths. Harsher penalties for fentanyl will only result in even more potent substances entering the drug supply, increasing risk of harms like overdose. It would unfairly target Black, Latinx, and Indigenous people just like we saw with severe sentencing for crack cocaine in the 1980s. And criminalizing substances that have never been researched or tested for potential harm means people would be punished regardless of science or evidence. The HALT Fentanyl Act would do all this and more, ramping up the federal drug war. We can’t let that happen: take action to stop it from getting through the Senate and fight instead for a health approach to keep people safer.
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