New legislation targets fentanyl-related substances as overdose crisis continues across the nation

Abigail Hasebroock, South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Mar 29, 2025

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A proposed law would permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as a Schedule I controlled substance and establish corresponding penalties, and federal lawmakers are pushing to see it get passed.

U.S. Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Fla., the former attorney general of Florida, attempted to raise more support for the HALT Fentanyl Act during a press conference on Friday afternoon in West Palm Beach.

Moody called nationwide fentanyl use the “deadliest challenge facing Americans right now,” including children and teenagers who may take counterfeit pills unknowingly laced with fentanyl.

“This cannot keep happening in a nation where we have the tools and resources and organizational efforts and structures to attack it,” Moody said during the press conference. “And so we cannot lose sight.”

Drugs are classified by five different schedules, with Schedule V containing drugs that have the lowest potential for abuse and could even be found in drug stores, such as cough or antidiarrheal medicine. Drugs classified into Schedule I, however, do not have any currently accepted medical use and have a high potential for abuse, such as heroin, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

The HALT Fentanyl Act would penalize abuse of substances that mimic fentanyl because, as it stands, prosecution of cases where a death was determined to be caused by a fentanyl-related substance is challenging, Moody said.

This law “would be the catchall for all of that,” she said.

The act was approved by the Senate on March 13 with an 84-16 vote but still has to be approved by the House of Representatives.

“The backing that we have from the laws and different partners and the way we’re tackling it as a group, I feel like we’re all sharing this vision, it’s like having your big brothers coming with you to fight and tackle this big monster,” said Palm Beach County Fire Rescue Lt. Andrew Lombardo.

In Palm Beach County, overdose-related deaths dropped by about 46% from 440 in 2023 to a projected maximum of 239 in 2024. But fentanyl remains as one of the biggest drivers for not only overdoses but the opioid crisis nationwide, according to Project Opioid.

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