Episode 48: Classwide Scheduling of Fentanyl-Related Substances Won’t Save Lives - It Will Overcriminalize Them

Drugs and Stuff: A Podcast from the Drug Policy Alliance

Under the Controlled Substances Act, drugs are classified into legal, regulatory categories by the Drug Enforcement Administration. This is known as “drug scheduling”, and it’s generally guided by a drug’s potential for abuse, and its medical value – and then the idea of classwide scheduling came along. In 2018, in a misaligned approach to addressing the overdose crisis, President Trump used classwide scheduling to classify all fentanyl-related substances (FRS) as Schedule I controlled substances. This means that any substance that was structurally similar enough to fentanyl became subject to harsh criminal penalties, regardless of its effects on the body. President Biden, despite apologizing for his tough-on-crime past and promising real criminal justice reform, is advocating to make this Trump-era decision permanent, and it's now up to Congress to decide. In February of 2022, the House voted to extend the policy yet again through March 11, and it’s unclear how long the extensions will continue – the longer they do, the more harm they bring. DPA’s Maritza Perez invited FRS expert and criminal defense attorney Patricia Richman to the podcast to explain more about what classwide scheduling means, and why we are fighting against it.

For more information on fentanyl and related substances, visit https://drugpolicy.org/drug-facts/synthetic-opioids-fentanyl.

Special thanks to DPA’s Communications intern Matthew Gonzalez for his help on this episode.