The Biden administration called on Congress to pass the HALT Fentanyl Act, introduced by GOP Reps. Morgan Griffith (Va.) and Bob Latta (Ohio), saying it was “critical” to combatting the supply of fentanyl-related substances coming into the U.S.

The bill would permanently schedule all fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act. Fentanyl-related substances have been temporarily scheduled as Schedule I since 2018, with this designation set to expire at the end of 2024.

That change has long been a Biden administration goal. In September of 2021, the White House issued a recommendation to Congress to permanently place these substances into Schedule I, as it noted in a statement issued on Monday. 

“The Administration calls on Congress to pass all of these critical measures to improve public safety and save lives,” said the statement of administration policy. 

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has warned that if the scheduling order expires, then fentanyl related substances would essentially become street-legal and authorities would lose the ability to seize these drugs.

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. As a street drug, it’s commonly mixed with other substances like heroin and cocaine, with many users unaware that they’re ingesting fentanyl.

Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) earlier this month found that overdose deaths involving fentanyl spiked between 2016 and 2021, going from 5.7 per 100,000 standard population to 21.6 per 100,000.