•     "This legislation doubles down on mass incarceration and expands the use of severe mandatory minimums at a time when there is broad bipartisan support for treating the opioid crisis as a public health issue. We have more than three decades of evidence that enforcement-first policies fail to reduce drug use and disproportionately harm communities of color. Any policy permanently scheduling these substances will only exacerbate these outcomes, as well as over-policing and incarceration of communities of color. Illicit fentanyl and fentanyl analogues are a major public health issue that requires public health solutions. Rather than extend anti-science policies that will exacerbate mass incarceration and racial disparities in drug policy, Congress and the Trump Administration should prioritize public health legislation that applies evidence-based approaches to illicit fentanyl." Source: Drug Policy Alliance

•     "I lost my son to a fentanyl overdose and don’t want another parent to experience that pain. My son died because he couldn’t access the care he needed. It is deeply hypocritical for Congress to claim a commitment to reducing overdose deaths while continuing to pass legislation that prioritizes punitive measures over meaningful solutions. Instead of perpetuating cycles of stigma and incarceration, we should create pathways to healing and recovery by focusing on treatment, harm reduction, and the underlying social determinants of health. The actions of Congress must align with the commitments they made to families like mine to reduce these preventable deaths." Source: Founder of Vilomah Memorial Foundation Susan Ousterman

•     "This counterproductive bill would permanently schedule all fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I without first testing them for benefits or harm, blocking potential research that could uncover new overdose medications. It would also entrench and expand mandatory minimum sentences for fentanyl-related substances – harsh penalties that will shatter families and communities, allow for unjust sentences that do not consider individual circumstances, and divert resources away from health interventions that are desperately needed to curb the fentanyl driven overdose crisis. The Trump administration first criminalized all fentanyl-related substances in 2018. Overdose deaths rose 60% in four years—from 67,367 deaths in 2018 to 107,941 in 2022. Instead of learning from this, Congress and the Trump administration are on track to make this policy permanent through the HALT Fentanyl Act.." Source: Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership Diane Goldman