WOWK 13 News

Bill to crack down on fentanyl moving through Congress

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) — There is another fight coming in the battle against fentanyl and it’s being fought on two fronts.

Heroin is listed as a schedule one drug, which is the most dangerous. But fentanyl, which is synthetic heroin, is listed as a schedule two drug.

Now the Attorney Generals of 23 states want that changed. They include AGs from West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky.

The “HALT Fentanyl Act” which is moving through Congress, would make all variations of fentanyl a schedule one narcotic. That would toughen the penalties for trafficking and possession, and give law enforcement more authority to stop it.

“I just can’t say strongly enough how many of our children are killed and the ages. You know it’s our young people. It’s the adults that are coming up there, just wiping out a generation, is what they are trying to do,” said Rep. Carol Miller, (R) West Virginia.

Congresswoman Miller says the biggest need is to shut down immigration problems at the Southern Border. She says most of the Chinese-made fentanyl, comes into the U.S. from Mexican drug cartels.

The House approved the HALT Fentanyl Act by a wide, bipartisan vote. The measure is now before the U.S. Senate.