Senate Passes Bill Classifying Fentanyl as Schedule I Drug, Barring Medical Use

The bill now goes to the president for his signature. The new classification would mean fentanyl could not be prescribed by a physician.

Tablets suspected to be fentanyl are placed on a graph to measure their size at the Drug Enforcement Administration Northeast Regional Laboratory in New York on Oct. 8, 2019. Don Emmert/AFP via Getty Images

The Senate passed a bill on March 14 that would reclassify fentanyl as a Schedule I narcotic, pulling it from medical use and toughening penalties for those charged with criminal offenses related to the drug.

The bill, introduced by Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), passed 84–16 on Friday, sending it to President Donald Trump’s desk for his signature.