President Trump has signed a bipartisan bill aimed at slowing the fentanyl scourge in Stockton and other cities.
The Halt All Lethal Trafficking of Fentanyl Act, or HALT Fentanyl, places all fentanyl-related substances, including knockoffs or derivatives of the powerful synthetic opioid, on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s list of most dangerous drugs, classifying them as Schedule I under the Controlled Substances Act.
The bill, authored by Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Louisiana, passed the House 321-104, crossing party lines before going to Trump’s desk, the Associated Press reported.
“We’ll be getting the drug dealers, pushers and peddlers off our streets,” Trump said Wednesday before signing the bill into law.
The drug, approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for pain relief and as an anesthetic, is approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the DEA. Overdoses of the drug have risen sharply in the past decade, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
Fentanyl was involved in 92% of the opioid-related deaths in San Joaquin County (175 of 191 fatalities) in 2023, the most recent year for which full statistics are available, according to the county’s Public Health Services department.
The number of reported deaths tapered off slightly in the first half of 2024, data shows. “This early decline could mean that prevention, treatment or community efforts are beginning to make a difference,” the department states on its Overdose Dashboard.
The Overdose Dashboard is updated quarterly when the California Department of Public Health’s Substance Addiction Prevention Branch releases new data. It was last updated in May 2025, but reports for 2024 are not yet complete.
In Stockton, efforts highlighting the dangers of fentanyl use have ramped up in recent weeks. A billboard at Pacific Avenue and Central Court advertising “Fentanyl = death” was unveiled Monday. The outdoor sign shows the names and faces of some of the thousands who have lost their lives to the drug.
“Fentanyl is a poison, and it is killing our kids,” said District Attorney Ron Freitas, who attended the ceremony. “We cannot arrest our way out of this epidemic. It takes education, awareness, and public action.”
Last month, the D.A.’s office joined the San Joaquin Regional Transit District and the Stockton Police Department to launch a fentanyl awareness campaign carried out on an RTD bus. The bus serves as “a rolling reminder that ‘one pill can kill,’ ” the transit agency said during the unveiling ceremony.
Both San Joaquin County and the city of Stockton have been trying to educate the public and reduce the fentanyl death count by making the overdose antidote Narcan more widely available. On Monday, free distribution of Narcan will take place at two locations. Gravity Church, 715 S. Central Ave., will offer the medication from 9 to 11 a.m.; a second giveaway at the Salvation Army Hope Harbor Shelter, 622 N. Sacramento St., takes place from 1:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Native CORE, a Native American tribal group, in partnership with the San Joaquin County Opioid Safety Coalition, is hosting its third annual Overdose Awareness Event at First Presbyterian Church, 31 E. Vine St., starting at 10 a.m. Aug. 23. The daylong event includes guest speakers and information booths.