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Even as more than 100,000 Americans are dying from drug overdoses and poisonings every year, many linked to fentanyl, House Democrats have blocked a plan that would crack down on the deadly substance flowing almost exclusively from the United States-Mexico border into American communities.
This week, 220 House Democrats blocked consideration for Rep. Michelle Fischbach’s (R-MN) Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act to permanently classify fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.
Such a change would make it permanently illegal to sell fentanyl-related substances.
In April, House Democrats blocked consideration of similar legislation that would have cracked down on fentanyl-related substances. Consistent blockage of bills to combat fentanyl overdoses and poisonings comes as Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officials have warned parents to carry Naloxone in case their child is overdosing on fentanyl.
The warning is in response to concerns that the Mexican drug cartels, trafficking most of all of the China-manufactured fentanyl into the U.S., are targeting children by packagingtens of thousands of fentanyl pills in Skittles and Nerds candy bags along with vape pens.