Latest news with #HALTFentanylAct
Fox News
2 days ago
- Health
- Fox News
Extra: How A ‘Fentanyl Father' Turned His Grief Into Activism
While there appears to be some progress in America's war on fentanyl, overdose deaths related to the synthetic drug remain alarmingly high, especially among young people. President Trump recently signed the HALT Fentanyl Act, expanding law enforcement's ability to crack down on traffickers. Gregory Swan lost his son, Drew, to a fentanyl overdose in 2013. Since then, he has co-founded Fentanyl Fathers and devoted his life to raising awareness about the lethal drug. Gregory recently spoke with FOX News Rundown host David Anthony to share his personal story, discuss the HALT Fentanyl Act, and explain how he is working with families to help them avoid the loss he and so many other parents have felt. We often have to cut interviews short during the week, but we thought you might like to hear the full interview. Today on Fox News Rundown Extra, we will share our entire interview with Gregory Swan, allowing you to hear more about how he turned his grief into activism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
Japan Forward
22-07-2025
- Health
- Japan Forward
The Threat of Illicit Fentanyl is Real, and It's Here
このページを 日本語 で読む The fentanyl crisis, driven by a powerful synthetic opioid behind a surge in overdose deaths in the United States, is now raising concerns in Japan. Fentanyl, a drug legitimately used by doctors in painkillers to treat severe cancer pain, is being illicitly manufactured and trafficked. That, in turn, has caused a dramatic increase in the number of people addicted to it in the US. Fentanyl is by far the most powerful and addictive of all narcotics. And there has been an overwhelming number of cases of people dying as a result of overdosing on it while trying to experience euphoric feelings. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has announced that "at least 48,000 people died from the drug last year (2024)." Without a question, the fentanyl crisis has become a serious social problem for America. American authorities also charge that clandestinely produced raw chemicals used to manufacture fentanyl are being exported from China to Mexico or Canada. They are then refined in those intermediate countries before flowing illicitly into the US. On roads or in parks in towns and cities throughout the US, you can often see the strange sight of people with their heads bowed or bodies curled up with their knees bent. Called "fentanyl fold" or "fenty lean," this is a typical posture of fentanyl addicts. Such individuals are often unable to respond or move, sometimes for hours. Surreptitiously manufactured fentanyl is totally different from fentanyl for medical use, which is subject to quality control. Instead, illicit drug dealers regularly cut the drug with powerful painkillers used for animals and other impure substances. Ingesting such mixtures can induce physical necrosis (death of body tissue) and even result in death. In fact, tens of thousands of Americans die yearly from fentanyl overdoses. Because it is easy to buy and sell, fentanyl can be widely distributed, earning it a reputation as the most lethal opioid. In 2022, two cases of misusing prescribed fentanyl for non-medical purposes were uncovered in Japan. At that time, there was no evidence of illicitly produced fentanyl in the country. However, that may change at any time. We should be aware of the danger that criminal groups could start bringing the drug into Japan. Police must work in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, as well as other government agencies responsible for drug supervision, to implement thorough border control measures that prevent drugs from entering our shores. They must also closely coordinate the exchange of information with international organizations. US President Donald Trump has linked the fentanyl crisis to high tariffs. Specifically, he has imposed additional tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico in the name of "fentanyl countermeasures." China has resisted, and that is one of the reasons why US-China relations have deteriorated. President Donald Trump attends a signing ceremony for the HALT Fentanyl Act. July 16, 2025, in the East Room of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley/Wikimedia Commons) Against this background, on June 26, US Ambassador to Japan George Glass released a tweet on X about fentanyl transiting through Japan. It closely tracked a June 25 news report that a Chinese organization is suspected of having set up a base in Japan for smuggling precursor chemicals to make fentanyl. According to the report, America was the drugs' ultimate destination. As of this time, the Japanese police have not verified the contents of the reports. However, we cannot dismiss concerns that Japan may become entangled in the US-China fentanyl confrontation. The Japanese government must strengthen its oversight and tracking of related pharmaceuticals. Tokyo must demonstrate that smuggling illicit drugs or materials for making fentanyl will not be tolerated. Protecting the public from the threat of illicit fentanyl must be the top priority. What's happening in the US is not a distant crisis. It's one Japan must take seriously as its own. Fentanyl Trafficking from China: A New and Escalating Concern Author: Editorial Board, The Sankei Shimbun このページを 日本語 で読む
Yahoo
21-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
At the six-month mark, Trump claims he kept promises he never actually made
Six months after his second presidential inaugural, Donald Trump seemed eager to put aside his historically low approval rating and to pretend instead that his second term has already been a great success. In an item published to his social media platform, for example, the Republican claimed he was responsible for 'ending numerous wars of Countries not related to us' — a highly dubious claim. He added, 'One year ago our Country was DEAD, with almost no hope of revival. Today the USA is the 'hottest' and most respected Country anywhere in the World.' All of this was in quotes (I'm not sure why, since he appeared to be quoting himself), and it was completely wrong. A year ago, the economy was stronger than it is now; job growth was better than it is now; and the United States' international standing was vastly better than it is now. Trump, in other words, was desperate to take a victory lap, but in order to do so, he had to turn reality on its head. But it was a related item that Trump also published online that stood out for me. After writing that he and his team 'have fulfilled so many of our promises,' the president listed six legislative successes from recent months: One Big Beautiful Bill Laken Riley Act TAKE IT DOWN Act Rescissions Act of 2025 HALT Fentanyl Act GENIUS Act To be sure, if the Republican wants to brag about signing these bills into law, that's hardly unreasonable. But to put them in the 'promises made, promises kept' category isn't just wrong, it's also a reflection of why the incumbent president is so unpopular. The GOP's unpopular, right-wing megabill, for example, was a major legislative breakthrough for the president and his party, but it's plainly not an example of a promise he kept. At no point during his two-year national campaign did the Republican ever tell the electorate, 'Vote for me and I'll deliver massive tax breaks for the wealthy, paid for in part with the largest cuts to federal health care spending in American history.' Similarly, Trump might be excited about the White House rescissions package overcoming bipartisan opposition and reaching his desk, but the president never told the public, 'In my second term, I'll refuse to spend money allocated by Congress for USAID, indifferent to the consequences for those desperate for that aid.' Yes, the president signed these six bills, but none of them was a key part of his campaign message, and none of them was integral to his successful campaign. The New York Times has a frequently updated graph, reflecting polling averages, and it currently shows 54% of the public disapproves of the president, while 44% approve. That 10-point gap is the worst of Trump's second term. If he has any questions as to why his support is faltering, he might consider that he's simply not delivering what voters thought they were getting, his misguided claims about promises fulfilled notwithstanding. This article was originally published on
The Star
21-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Trump says Beijing is making ‘big steps' in controlling fentanyl
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Beijing is 'making big steps' in efforts to control the flow of fentanyl, an issue that the American leader has used to justify tariffs that he has slapped on imports from China. 'I think China has been helping out,' Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. 'I mean, it's been a terrible situation for many years with fentanyl, but since I came here, we're talking to them, and they're making big steps ... You know that they're being penalised with tariffs because of the fentanyl but they want to do something.' Trump's positive assessment differs sharply the strident tone that he used when announcing in February that the US would not only impose his originally outlined 10 per cent tariffs on all Chinese imports beginning on Tuesday, but that these were now being doubled for an effective rate of 20 per cent. The comment also comes amid high-level negotiations between his team and Chinese counterparts to broker a climbdown on overlapping tariffs and other trade restrictions that the two sides have directed at each other. 'A large percentage of these Drugs, much of them in the form of Fentanyl, are made in, and supplied by, China,' Trump declared on his Truth Social account in February. 'Until it stops, or is seriously limited, the proposed TARIFFS scheduled to go into effect on MARCH FOURTH will, indeed, go into effect, as scheduled.' Trump made the comments ahead of his official signing of a bill – Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act or the HALT Fentanyl Act – that permanently places fentanyl-related substances into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act into law. A schedule I controlled substance refers to 'a drug, substance, or chemical that has a high potential for abuse; has no currently accepted medical value; and is subject to regulatory controls and administrative, civil, and criminal penalties under the Controlled Substances Act'. Those penalties include a 10-year mandatory minimum prison term. That move came weeks before the president announced additional levies – so-called reciprocal tariffs – of 125 per cent on imports from the country, which US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and other members of Trump's economic team are in talks with their Chinese counterparts to avert before a temporary pause on them expires on August 12. Trump's declaration in February also involved tariffs of 25 per cent on all imports from Mexico and Canada, which he said were not doing enough to stop trafficking across their borders with the US. 'China delivers much of the fentanyl; some people would say all of it,' Trump said later on Wednesday, when his signed the HALT Act. 'They deliver it into Mexico and even into our own country. We have a 20 per cent [tariff], so they pay billions of dollars and billions of dollars in damages for what they've done, and I think we're going to work it out so that China is going to end up going from that to giving the death penalty to the people that create this.' Fentanyl-related deaths in the US rose steadily for years, from an estimated 29,725 in 2018 to a high of 76,282 in 2023. Until the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention did not publish exact figures for fentanyl alone, instead tracking death rates involving 'synthetic opioids other than methadone'. But the sharp upwards trend has begun to ease. According to estimates by the agency, overdose deaths linked to fentanyl dropped to 48,422 in 2024. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Yahoo
19-07-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
D.C. Dispatch: Iowa legislators cheer fentanyl reclassification, federal spending cuts
President Donald Trump signs the HALT Fentanyl Act, July 16, 2025, in the East Room of the White House. Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley is second from the right. (Official White House Photo by Daniel Torok) This week in the nation's capital, President Donald Trump signed a fentanyl reclassification act led by Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa legislators cheered the passing of a federal rescission bill through Congress and House members helped send a $832 billion defense appropriations bill through the GOP-led chamber. The Grassley-led HALT Act permanently reclassifies fentanyl-related substances as a Schedule 1 drug. In February 2020, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration issued a temporary scheduling order reclassifying fentanyl-related substances to Schedule 1. Congress has since extended this order a total of 10 times. The act has received criticism from advocacy groups such as the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights stating that classwide drug rescheduling may exacerbate incarceration rates and sentencing. The president's signing of the HALT Act Wednesday was attended by several Iowa officials including Grassley, Attorney General Brenna Bird and Rep. Randy Feenstra. 'The HALT Fentanyl Act is now the law of the land, marking a major victory in America's fight against fentanyl,' Grassley said in a press release. 'By permanently classifying fentanyl-related substances as Schedule I, the HALT Fentanyl Act will save American lives and prevent deadly fentanyl knockoffs from making their way into Iowa communities.' 'This bill is a huge win for Iowa and the entire country,' Bird said in a press release. 'As a mom and prosecutor, I am deeply aware of the devastating effects fentanyl has had on our communities. And as Attorney General, I hear about this issue from Iowans regularly. 'I applaud President Trump for signing into law the HALT Fentanyl Act and taking decisive action to keep fentanyl and other poisonous substances out of our country.' Feenstra stated. 'In conjunction with our work to secure the border, this legislation will help law enforcement confiscate dangerous drugs, combat the drug cartels, and save lives.' Rep. Ashley Hinson stated: 'This bill will help end the scourge of the opioid epidemic that has taken too many American lives — we will continue working together to get dangerous drugs off our streets & ensure dealers are punished for their crimes.' Rep. Zach Nunn also stated he 'proudly cosigned' the HALT act for its ability to 'crack down on traffickers,' keep 'deadly substances off our streets' and ensure consistent penalties for fentanyl distributors. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks stated in a press release: 'As an original cosponsor in the House, I was proud to help lead the fight to get this bill across the finish line. With this law in place, we're going on offense. We're giving law enforcement what they need to crack down, take control, and stop this poison from claiming more lives.' Miller-Meeks also reintroduced a bipartisan bill Thursday requiring social media companies and other communication service providers to alert law enforcement officials when illegal drug distributions occur on their platforms. All of Iowa's delegates voted in favor of Trump's rescission bill to axe $9 billion in previously approved funding for programs including the U.S. Agency for International Aid, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio. The rescission bill passed both chambers of Congress Friday with a vote of 51-48 in the Senate and 216-213 in the House. This marks the second time in over three decades Congress has approved a presidential rescission request. Ernst praised the cuts to USAID, citing 'abuses' such as an alleged $148,000 sent to a pickle-maker in Ukraine through USAID and $20 million spent on Sesame Street programming in Iraq. 'If we are ever going to get serious about our debt crisis, Congress needs to pass a rescissions bill like this every single week,' she stated in a press release. Hinson responded to the bill with a statement on X: 'President Trump is the first president to actually deliver on real savings for the American people and end the culture of wasteful spending in Washington.' Grassley took to X as well to state 'Fed govt is $36 TRILLION in debt Last night Sen Republicans voted to roll back DC's out of control spending.' He added that Republicans plan to build on the provisions in the 'big, beautiful bill' going forward. Miller-Meeks called the rescission cuts a one of two 'big wins for the American people' in an X post. She also cheered the passing of a defense appropriations bill increasing military spending. Democrats in both the House and Senate voted against passing the rescission bill. Several Democratic legislators criticized the rescission bill for cutting funding from public broadcasting that will impact rural news sources and withdrawing U.S. support from countries in need. Ernst led an amendment to the defense appropriations bill to require all defense spending be posted on the public website This amendment will directly target 'Other Transaction Agreements' which are flexible spending agreements not subject to standard acquisition laws and requirements. 'I am ending Pentagon bureaucrats' game of hide and seek with your tax dollars,' Ernst stated in a press release. 'Americans have a right to know where their hard-earned dollars are going. I've long been working to make the Pentagon more transparent and accountable and will continue to work to review the hidden receipts.' The expansive defense bill passed through the House with a split vote of 221-209 on Friday. It allocates nearly $832 billion for provisions such as: Basic pay increase for all military members by 3.8% starting 2026 Codifies Trump's executive order to end military diversity, equity and inclusion programs $13 billion for missile defense and space programs $7 billion for 'classified space superiority programs.' $2.6 billion for hypersonic missiles. $1.15 billion for counterdrug programs $500 million for Israeli Missile Defense $500 million for Taiwan Security Operative Miller-Meeks responded to the provisions in a press release stating: 'This bill gives our troops the pay raise they deserve and the resources they need to defend this country.' The bill moves to the Senate for reconciliation. Cedar Rapids is set to receive $25 million in federal funding through the Grassley-backed Infrastructure and Jobs Act of 2021. The funding is allocated for a 'flood resiliency project' and road improvements on highway I-380. 'I'm happy to announce that the City of Cedar Rapids is receiving a $25 million award to improve its flood resilience and infrastructure,' Grassley said in a press release. 'You can imagine how important this funding is for Cedar Rapids, after the city has been hit by devastating floods. These federal dollars will be put to good use to strengthen the Cedar Rapids community.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
