An amendment numbered 2 printed in Part B of House Report 119-2 to delay the enactment of this bill until the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Attorney General each certify that the bill will lead to a reduction in overdose deaths.
On agreeing to the Trahan amendment (A002) Failed by the Yeas and Nays: 182 - 226 (Roll no. 32).
Fentanyl-related substances—chemical variations of the drug fentanyl—would be permanently classified in the strictest legal drug category, meaning anyone caught making, selling, or possessing them faces the same criminal penalties as regular fentanyl, including mandatory prison sentences of at least 10 years for larger quantities. Scientists who want to study these substances for medical research would get an easier registration process, including options to cover multiple lab locations under one approval and skip repeat inspections in some cases. The bill also puts Congress on record agreeing with a court ruling that let prosecutors treat a fentanyl variant as similar enough to fentanyl to prosecute it the same way, even though the law's usual definition would normally exclude it.