HELP Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1655 To provide for enhanced penalties for certain offenses relating to controlled substances containing fentanyl, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2019 Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. LAMALFA, Mr. YOHO, and Mr. CHABOT) intro- duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Ju- diciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com- mittee concerned A BILL To provide for enhanced penalties for certain offenses relat- ing to controlled substances containing fentanyl, and for other purposes. 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 ‘‘Help Ensure Lives 4 are Protected Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘HELP Act of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1655.IH H1655 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1655 IH SEC. 2. ENHANCED PENALTIES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES 1 RELATING TO CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES 2 CONTAINING FENTANYL. 3 (a) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT AMEND- 4 MENTS.—Section 401(b) of the Controlled Substances Act 5 (21 U.S.C. 841(b)) is amended by adding at the end the 6 following: 7 ‘‘(8) In the case of a violation of subsection (a) in- 8 volving a mixture or substance in an amount of 100 grams 9 or more, if the mixture or substance containing a detect- 10 able amount of heroin also contains a detectable amount 11 of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] 12 propanamide or any analogue of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2- 13 phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] propanamide, and if death or 14 serious bodily injury results from the use of such sub- 15 stance, such person shall be sentenced to life imprison- 16 ment or death. 17 ‘‘(9) In the case of a violation of subsection (a) in- 18 volving a mixture or substance in an amount of 100 grams 19 or more, if the mixture or substance containing a detect- 20 able amount of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4- 21 piperidinyl] propanamide or any analogue of N-phenyl-N- 22 [1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] propanamide was rep- 23 resented to be or sold as heroin, and if death or serious 24 bodily injury results from the use of such substance, such 25 person shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death.’’. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1655.IH H1655 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1655 IH (b) CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES IMPORT AND EXPORT 1 ACT AMENDMENTS.—Section 1010(b) of the Controlled 2 Substances Import and Export Act (21 U.S.C. 960(b)) is 3 amended by adding at the end the following: 4 ‘‘(8) In the case of a violation of subsection (a) in- 5 volving a mixture or substance in an amount of 100 grams 6 or more, if the mixture or substance containing a detect- 7 able amount of heroin also contains a detectable amount 8 of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] 9 propanamide or any analogue of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2- 10 phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] propanamide, and if death or 11 serious bodily injury results from the use of such sub- 12 stance, such person shall be sentenced to life imprison- 13 ment or death. 14 ‘‘(9) In the case of a violation of subsection (a) in- 15 volving a mixture or substance in an amount of 100 grams 16 or more, if the mixture or substance containing a detect- 17 able amount of N-phenyl-N-[1-(2-phenylethyl)-4- 18 piperidinyl] propanamide or any analogue of N-phenyl-N- 19 [1-(2-phenylethyl)-4-piperidinyl] propanamide was rep- 20 resented to be or sold as heroin, and if death or serious 21 bodily injury results from the use of such substance, such 22 person shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death.’’. 23 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:15 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1655.IH H1655 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS