Ashley Dunn lay in a hospital bed on life support for three days before her mother gave her permission to unplug it. Before that, she lay on the floor of her apartment for her 30 minutes while waiting for her roommate to call her 911. she delivers it.

“She killed my child,” Ashley’s mother, Josephine Dunn, told a group of Arizona legislators Monday afternoon.

According to the Arizona Department of Health, Ashley Dunne died of a fentanyl overdose in 2021, as did 2,015 other people in Arizona. bottom. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. In the same year he suffered a non-fatal overdose of more than 3,000 people.

Deaths in Arizona reflect a nationwide crisis. In 2020, more than 56,000 Americans died from fentanyl and other synthetic opioid overdoses. CDC
reported, and the number continues to grow. Sheriffs from both Yavapai and Pinal counties testified that Arizona is often the first stop for drug travel across the country.

“Arizona is a funnel,” said Pinal County Sheriff Mark Lamb. “Nearly half of all drugs entering the United States come through Arizona.

Lam says users often don’t know that what they’re ingesting contains fentanyl, but dealers “know it’s poison.”

Dunn’s story was one of six heard by the Arizona House of Representatives Committee on Health and Human Services, which voted in favor of a bill commonly known as the Ashley Dunn Act. None of the guests voiced their objections.

Josephine Dunn asked, “Can you object to saving lives?”

HB2469
Establish “drug trafficking murder” as a new crime punishable in the same way as first-degree murder. If you are found selling drugs that “contribute” to another person’s death, you are guilty of a level 1 felony. The bill states that states are not required to prove drugs were the “sole and direct” cause of death.

If convicted, you can face 10 to 25 years in prison for first offenses and up to 29 years in prison for repeat offenses.

The bill’s founder and chairman, Steve Montenegro, a Republican from Goodyear, called fentanyl a “weapon of mass destruction.”

“Something needs to be done about this plague,” he said. “We can’t keep ignoring this any longer.”

Committee members agreed that the issue was worth addressing, but some disputed the wide-ranging potential impact of the bill.

Most were concerned about how the bill would affect people who struggle with addiction, rather than the dealers it targets.

Phoenix Republican Rep. Matt Gress said he didn’t want victims of the fentanyl crisis to suffer under potential laws.

“How should this commission balance the hardened criminals that the cartels are exploiting with those who are under control of fentanyl and are trying to uphold the custom?” he asks Lam. rice field. “Is it necessary to distinguish between the two?”

“There is a balance in law enforcement,” Lam replied. “We don’t want the wrong people in jail. We understand that certain people are trying to prey on their addictions and share drugs with each other. do not have [is] It is designed to

“When you are aggressively trying to sell fentanyl pills or Xanax pills that are known to contain fentanyl, you are one of those dealers who are causing an addiction to American lives. I’m one of those people.

Robin Holliday, whose son died of a fentanyl overdose in 2019 at age 36, said he didn’t care who was selling the drug.

“If you choose to sell a drug you know [is lethal]you are responsible for what happens with that drug,” she told the committee.

Her son bought pills from someone in the apartment complex while he was suffering from an anxiety attack. He didn’t know the pill contained lethal doses of fentanyl, Holliday said.

“Nothing happened to them,” she said.

Others are concerned that the bill could lead to the prosecution of questionable dealers without due process.

Phoenix Democrat Rep. Patti Contreras said, “The state does not need to prove that dangerous drugs or drug sales were the sole and direct cause of another’s death. “It seems unconstitutional that someone can be put in prison if they cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt that this person did this.”

Dunn said the reason for the phrase is that overdoses often involve multiple drugs, each of which will appear on the death certificate.

“My daughter’s death certificate says marijuana and fentanyl,” she said outside the conference room.

Because it may not be clear which of the multiple drugs in someone’s body actually killed that person, the bill would instead target those who sold drugs to users that may have contributed to the death. is.

Contreras voted in favor, but state representatives said they looked forward to fixing some of the language they considered problematic.

Ashley’s father, Mitch Dunn, was plagued with hangups by the committee over what he perceives as details.

“Every time they ask about phrasing or constitutionality, someone is dying,” he said after the meeting.

The CDC reports that 150 people die every day in the United States from fentanyl overdoses, and about six die every hour.

“Since we sat in that room, 36 people have died,” said Josephine Dunn.

But Rep. Alma Hernandez, a Democrat in Tucson, said the time taken to finalize the bill was priceless and could have serious consequences if not done.

“We’re looking at bills that really determine someone’s life,” she said.

Hernandez voted against.

The Amish Shah Rep., a Democrat from Phoenix, has challenged a bill that would make drug trafficking murders the same level as first-degree murders.

“It’s honestly close to the definition of manslaughter because it was reckless and it resulted in your death,” he said. I plotted to catch it, and I went and did it.”

Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes said most fentanyl sales are deliberate. This is because dealers know that fentanyl can kill users.

That’s what Dawn Petit thought when his daughter Carter died of an overdose in 2021.

“Carter’s death was attributed to an individual,” Petit said. “dealer”

Still, the Shah and Rep. Christopher Mattis, a Democrat from Phoenix, voted against the bill for its lack of clarity about intent.

Despite their and Hernandez’s opposition, the bill went to the House of Representatives by a 6-3 vote.

“I’m optimistic,” said Josephine Dunn. “I hope lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans can work together to save lives. This is not a retaliation bill, it’s a way to stop death.”

She said she hopes the bill will stop people from doing what was done to her daughter.

“A man who kills my daughter will never pay unless he kills another,” she said. You will be charged with a crime.”

The bill was originally drafted to declare a public health crisis over the cross-border sale of fentanyl between the United States and Mexico, but the bill’s sponsor, Montenegro’s “strike it all” amendment, It is now. A nearly identical bill was considered by the House Judiciary Committee last year, but failed to pass.

It is unclear when the bill will be considered in the House.