What it does.
The HALT Fentanyl Act keeps fentanyl and the chemical cousins traffickers engineer to skirt the law on the most-controlled drug list permanently. Before this bill, the DEA had to renew that classification on a temporary basis, and every renewal window opened a legal loophole for synthesis. The law closes it for good.
Doc cosponsored. President Trump signed the bill into law as Public Law 119-26 on July 16, 2025. It sits alongside Doc's broader fentanyl and border work, including the Laken Riley Act (S. 5) and the 287(g) sheriff-participation push he has done with the Kansas Sheriffs' Association.
Kansas overdose deaths from fentanyl have climbed every year since 2018. Former Sheriff Calvin Hayden in Johnson County and other Kansas sheriffs have testified that fentanyl-laced drugs are the primary overdose driver in their counties.