Trump Signs Law Targeting Fentanyl Trafficking—What to Know

Trump asked the Department of Justice to seek maximum sentences for fentanyl traffickers.

A bag of illicit fentanyl pills is held as Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem tours the San Ysidro Port of Entry at the U.S.–Mexico border in San Diego on March 16, 2025. Alex Brandon/AFP via Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed into law the Halt All Lethal Trafficking of (HALT) Fentanyl Act on July 16.

The law makes permanent a 2018 change that made all fentanyl-related substances fall under Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act, which is reserved for drugs with high potential for abuse and no medical use.