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House Democrats Vote Against Bill To Classify Fentanyl As Schedule I Drug While Thousands Die From Overdoses

Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted against a bill this week to classify fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I substances — a vote that comes even as a record number of Americans are dying from those compounds every year.

The committee’s health subcommittee approved the bill in a 17-10 vote with every Democrat, except for Rep. Angie Craig (MN), voting against the measure.

Republicans are pushing the legislation because it will increase the mandatory minimum sentence for anyone caught having those substances in their possession, which they believe will lead to a significant reduction in their spread across the country. More than 70,000 Americans die per year from synthetic opioid overdoses, with fentanyl driving most of those deaths.

Schedule I substances are typically substances that have “no currently accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse,” according to the DEA. However some of the substances on the list — including marijuana, magic mushrooms, and MDMA — have been used in states that either have legalized medical use of the substances or in clinical research settings.

The committee says that the legislation “closely tracks recommendations to Congress submitted by the Office of National Drug Control Policy in September 2021.”

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