President Donald Trump signed a bill Wednesday meant to address the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. by enacting harsher penalties for possession.
The new law, which was circulated as the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act, permanently sets fentanyl as a Schedule I controlled substance, which will bring steeper sentences against those found to possess it.
"We’ll be getting the drug dealers, pushers and peddlers off our streets," President Trump promised at a signing ceremony on Wednesday, where he appeared with lawmakers who supported the bill and families of victims who have died because of fentanyl.
"We take a historic step toward justice for every family touched by the fentanyl scourge," he said.
The new law also classifies fentanyl-related and copycat drugs as Schedule I. It will not apply to fentanyl used for medical purposes.
Then-candidate Trump campaigned on the risks of allowing fentanyl into the U.S., including as a factor that contributed to illegal border crossings and threats to U.S. national security.
When he took office, President Trump cited the risks from fentanyl as justification for tariffs on Canadian and Chinese goods.
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Nearly 17,000 people under the age of 34 died from fentanyl and other a drug overdoses last year, according to the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention.
Over the years fentanyl has also caused hundreds of fatal and nearly-fatal cases nationwide involving the poisoning of babies, toddlers and young children.
Scripps News has compiled more than 460 cases of reported child opioid poisoning incidents from nearly every state in the U.S. from 2018 to 2025 – a total that is almost certainly an undercount. That tally includes more than 260 deaths.
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