A different justice: The HALT Fentanyl Act traffics in fear, not fact ‘We know that prohibition itself is what’s causing the [overdose] crisis.’

By Jack Shuler ● Community ● July 23, 2025

Surrounded by families who have lost loved ones to an overdose involving fentanyl, President Donald Trump signed the HALT Fentanyl Act into law last week, saying as he did so that the law would put more people behind bars. 

The new law puts fentanyl analogues into Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, and as Filter Magazine noted, because the pool of eligible substances is larger, so is the pool of those likely to be arrested.

These are political choices. These are the actions of people who traffic in fear and retribution rather than facts.

When I spoke with her last week, Susan Ousterman used the word “performative” when describing the new law. Ousterman is the executive director of the Vilomah Memorial Foundation, an advocate for harm reduction, and a supporter of parents who have lost their children to overdose. The law criminalizes more people and spreads stigma and fear of people who use drugs, Ousterman said. “We know that prohibition itself is what’s causing the crisis,” she added pointedly. 

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