U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) has released a video marking an event held in Baton Rouge that honored Angel Families and recognized the signing of the Halt All Lethal Trafficking (HALT) Fentanyl Act into law by President Trump. The event brought together Louisiana families who have lost relatives to fentanyl, along with law enforcement officials and community leaders focused on combating illicit fentanyl.
“The President has taken this on, he’s made it a priority,” said Dr. Cassidy. “It is all of us working together to end the fentanyl epidemic. We know we’re going to win because we’re committed.”
President Trump signed the HALT Fentanyl Act in July after its passage by the U.S. Senate in March. Earlier, Senator Cassidy spoke on the Senate floor as Democrats attempted to challenge his legislation.
Fentanyl remains a major public health concern in the United States, with drug overdoses—primarily from synthetic opioids like fentanyl—being the leading cause of death for young adults aged 18 to 45 years old. Synthetic opioids now account for about 68 percent of total overdose deaths nationally.
Recent data show that U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized nearly 50,000 pounds of fentanyl over two fiscal years, which could produce more than 2 billion lethal doses. In 2023, an estimated 107,543 people died from drug overdoses in the U.S., with approximately 74,702 attributed to fentanyl according to the CDC. Most illegal fentanyl is manufactured in Mexico using raw materials from China.
In addition, seizures of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl have increased sharply; over 50 million such pills were confiscated by the DEA in 2022—more than double what was seized in 2021.
