In a letter circulating among national criminal justice reform organizations, concerns are raised about the White House's Statement of Administration Policy (SAP) on H.R. 467 of the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act and its failure to address expanding mandatory minimums.
“Despite the Biden Administration campaigning on a policy of ending Mandatory Minimums, the HALT Act does the opposite. And with the SAP they put out yesterday, they are not only expressing their support for the policy but also asking Congress to throw their support behind it when it receives a House floor vote tomorrow. This bill will not only be incredibly detrimental to criminal justice reform efforts, but it will also exacerbate the overdose crisis and do nothing to further the public health solutions we urgently need,” Matt Sutton of Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) told Benzinga.
What Does The Letter Say?
- The HALT Fentanyl Act does not incorporate critical aspects of the Biden Administration's 2021 proposal on fentanyl-related substances scheduling, including a streamlined process for identifying and rescheduling substances with low abuse …