Cheney Joins Colleagues In Letter Demanding President Biden Take Action on Fentanyl

Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) and 116 of her House Republican colleagues sent a letter to President Joe Biden urging the Administration to take immediate action to stem the fentanyl scourge coming chrome China and across the southern border, and support making Schedule 1 classification permanent for fentanyl and fentanyl related substances.

Representative Cheney released a statement saying the opioid epidemic continues to cause families pain in Wyoming and across the country and she’s proud to join her colleagues in issuing the letter to the Biden Administration. The full letter can be read here. Fentanyl related substances have been on a temporary scheduling for Schedule I classification. The Schedule I classification will expire March 11, 2022 when government funding expires. The letter seeks to make the Schedule I classification of fentanyl and fentanyl related substances permanent, meaning no medical benefit for this drug.

Drug overdoses have claimed more lives of Americans each year than ever before. Fentanyl and fentanyl related substances are fueling the overdose epidemic, killing 64,178 Americans between May 2020 and April 2021 and making up 64 percent of total U.S. overdose deaths. The highly lethal synthetic opioid is 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin.