Federal

Protecting Americans from Fentanyl Trafficking Act of 2023

Source: Congress.gov · 466 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill adds fentanyl-related substances to Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Schedule I is the list of drugs that the federal government considers to have no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse. The bill makes permanent a temporary scheduling order that previously existed for these substances.

Who It Affects

The bill directly affects federal drug enforcement agencies that regulate controlled substances. It also impacts anyone who manufactures, distributes, possesses or uses fentanyl-related substances, as these actions would become federal crimes under Schedule I classification.

Key Provisions

• Fentanyl-related substances, including their chemical variations called isomers (different arrangements of the same atoms), esters (chemical compounds), ethers (chemical compounds), salts and combinations of these are added to Schedule I (Sec. 2) • A substance qualifies as a fentanyl-related substance if it is not already listed in another drug schedule and has not been approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for medical use or for testing on humans (Sec. 2) • A substance qualifies as a fentanyl-related substance if it has a chemical structure related to fentanyl through specific structural changes including replacing certain chemical rings or adding certain chemical groups to the fentanyl molecule (Sec. 2)

What Changes

If this becomes law, fentanyl-related substances that were previously under temporary scheduling would be permanently classified as Schedule I controlled substances under federal law.

Important Definitions

The bill defines "fentanyl-related substance" as any substance with a chemical structure related to fentanyl through specific modifications, provided it is not already approved for medical use or classified in another drug schedule.

Effective Date

Not specified in bill text

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 614 To codify the temporary scheduling order for fentanyl-related substances by adding fentanyl-related substances to schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 1, 2023 Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. GRAHAM, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. LEE, Mr. TILLIS, Mr. CORNYN, Mr. CRUZ, and Mr. HAWLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary A BILL To codify the temporary scheduling order for fentanyl-related substances by adding fentanyl-related substances to schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protecting Americans 4 from Fentanyl Trafficking Act of 2023’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S614.IS S614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •S 614 IS SEC. 2. PLACEMENT OF FENTANYL-RELATED SUBSTANCES 1 IN SCHEDULE I. 2 Schedule I of section 202(c) of the Controlled Sub- 3 stances Act (21 U.S.C. 812(c)) is amended by adding at 4 the end the following: 5 ‘‘(e)(1) Fentanyl-related substances, including their 6 isomers, esters, ethers, salts, and salts of isomers, esters, 7 and ethers. 8 ‘‘(2) For purposes of paragraph (1), the term 9 ‘fentanyl-related substance’ means any substance that— 10 ‘‘(A) is not listed in another schedule; 11 ‘‘(B) has not been approved under section 505 12 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 13 U.S.C. 355) or granted an exemption for investiga- 14 tional use under subsection (i) of such section 505; 15 and 16 ‘‘(C) is structurally related to fentanyl by— 17 ‘‘(i) replacement of the phenyl portion of 18 the phenethyl group by any monocycle, whether 19 or not further substituted in or on the mono- 20 cycle; 21 ‘‘(ii) substitution in or on the phenethyl 22 group with alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyl, hydroxyl, 23 halo, haloalkyl, amino, or nitro groups; 24 ‘‘(iii) substitution in or on the piperidine 25 ring with alkyl, alkenyl, alkoxyl, ester, ether, 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S614.IS S614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •S 614 IS hydroxyl, halo, haloalkyl, amino, or nitro 1 groups; 2 ‘‘(iv) replacement of the aniline ring with 3 any aromatic monocycle, whether or not further 4 substituted in or on the aromatic monocycle; or 5 ‘‘(v) replacement of the N-propionyl group 6 by another acyl group.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 17:16 Mar 11, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S614.IS S614 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

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