Bill Text: NJ ACR168 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges Congress to enact the "HALT Fentanyl Act."
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-06-12 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee [ACR168 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-ACR168-Introduced.html
ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 168
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED JUNE 12, 2025
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
SYNOPSIS
Urges Congress to enact the "HALT Fentanyl Act."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Concurrent Resolution urging Congress to enact the "HALT Fentanyl Act."
Whereas, According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were approximately 107,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2023, nearly 70 percent of which were attributed to opioids such as illegal fentanyl; and
Whereas, The CDC found a recent trend of decreasing deaths from drug overdoses, with a 14.5 percent decrease in the United States between June 2023 and June 2024; and
Whereas, In New Jersey, drug overdose deaths decreased 35% from the peak of 3,148 deaths between January 2021 and January 2022, to 2,031 deaths between September 2023 and September 2024; and
Whereas, However, despite this decline, drug overdoses, including those from drugs such as illegal fentanyl, remain the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 44; and
Whereas, It should be noted that there are two types of fentanyl: pharmaceutical fentanyl, which is prescribed by doctors to treat severe pain, and illegally made fentanyl, which is distributed through illegal drug markets and is responsible for most cases of fentanyl-related overdose; and
Whereas, Illegally made fentanyl is often added to other illegal drugs during manufacture because it is cheaper, more powerful, and more addictive than other illegal drugs, and thus more dangerous; and
Whereas, Laboratory testing by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the fall of 2024 revealed that five out of 10 illegal pills contained a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl; and
Whereas, One gram of the illegally made fentanyl, the size of a sugar packet, has the potential to kill up to 500 people; and
Whereas, United States Senate Bill 331 of the 119th Congress (2025-2026), the "Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act" or the "HALT Fentanyl Act," sponsored by Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, permanently places illegal fentanyl and related substances into Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act; and
Whereas, Under federal law, substances in Schedule I are those with a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical value, and are subject to regulatory controls and federal criminal penalties, including mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment; and
Whereas, In New Jersey, illicit fentanyls are already classified as Schedule I substances pursuant to the New Jersey Administrative Code; and
Whereas, Similar to the criteria in federal law, substances in Schedule I pursuant to New Jersey law are those with high potential for abuse, and either with no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, or without accepted safety for use in treatment under medical supervision; and
Whereas, Federal classification of fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I will enhance nationwide efforts to combat illicit manufacturing and trafficking of these potentially deadly drugs; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):
1. The Legislature respectfully urges the United States Congress to enact the "Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act."
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly or the Secretary of the Senate to the Majority and Minority Leaders of the United States Senate, the Speaker and Minority Leader of the United States House of Representatives, and every member of Congress elected from this State.
STATEMENT
This resolution respectfully urges the United States Congress to enact U.S. Senate Bill 331, the "HALT Fentanyl Act."
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), there were approximately 107,000 drug overdose deaths in the United States in 2023, nearly 70 percent of which were attributed to opioids such as illegal fentanyl. The CDC found a recent trend of decreasing deaths from drug overdoses, with a 14.5 percent decrease between June 2023 and June 2024. In New Jersey, drug overdose deaths decreased 35 percent from the peak of 3,148 deaths between January 2021 and January 2022, to 2,031 deaths between September 2023 and September 2024. However, despite this decline, drug overdoses remain the leading cause of death for Americans aged 18 to 44.
There are two types of fentanyl: pharmaceutical fentanyl and illegally made fentanyl. Pharmaceutical fentanyl is prescribed by doctors to treat severe pain. Illegally made fentanyl is responsible for most cases of fentanyl-related overdose. Illegally made fentanyl, which is distributed through illegal drug markets, is often added to other illegal drugs during manufacture because it is cheaper, more powerful, and more addictive than other illegal drugs, and thus more dangerous.
Laboratory testing by the Drug Enforcement Administration in the fall of 2024 revealed that five out of 10 illegal pills contained a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl. One gram of illegally made fentanyl, the size of a sugar packet, has the potential to kill up to 500 people.
The federal "Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act" or "HALT Fentanyl Act" places illegal fentanyl and related substances into Schedule I of the federal Controlled Substances Act. Under federal law, substances in Schedule I are those with a high potential for abuse and no currently accepted medical value, and are subject to regulatory controls and federal criminal penalties, including mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment.
In New Jersey, illicit fentanyls are already classified as Schedule I substances pursuant to N.J.A.C.13:45H-10.1. Similar to the criteria in federal law, substances in Schedule I pursuant to New Jersey law are those with high potential for abuse, and either with no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, or without accepted safety for use in treatment under medical supervision.
In the view of the sponsor, federal classification of fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I will enhance nationwide efforts to combat illicit manufacturing and trafficking of these potentially deadly drugs.
