Some critics say the Republican proposal would clean up drug addicts and put them on death row.
This law expands the state’s first-degree murder laws to include deaths from fentanyl if the drug can be traced to a specific individual. be punished.
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criminal justice advocate said before or Senate Bill 1029 It imposes murder charges on drug possession even in cases of accidental death. The bill’s lead proponent, Sen. Anthony Kahn (R-Glendale), aimed to address these concerns by introducing an amendment on the Senate floor.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is much more potent than other opioids.it is partially responsible Increase in deaths from drug overdose Both nationally and locally, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Fentanyl in Arizona has been booming in recent years. In 2021, the Scottsdale Police Department and the Arizona Attorney General’s Office seized the records. 1.7 million fentanyl tablets Over 10 kilograms of fentanyl powder in one survey. Last week, Arizona Attorney General Chris Mays, along with members of the Tempe Police Department, said: 4.5 million counterfeit prescription pills laced with fentanyl It is mainly manufactured and distributed by the Sinaloa drug cartels.
In two months of 2021, Phoenix’s DEA has seized more than 3 million fentanyl pills and 45 kilograms of fentanyl powder and arrested 40 people.
medicine also Passed the heroine for the first time as the most trafficked drug across the US-Mexico border.In Pima County, health authorities distribute test strips Allow residents to determine if a drug contains fentanyl.
Khan’s change comes after Democratic Senator Kristin Marsh, D-Phoenix, I lost my son to a fentanyl overdose. The drug had been laced after taking Percocet pills that he didn’t know about. That led her to her 2021 advocacy law. Legalized fentanyl test strips.
Marsh said she appreciated the bill’s intent, but said it would not solve the problem of overdose deaths or help prevent drugs. also claimed judgments involving community service. did not show a relationship Between harsh penalties and substance abuse, sometimes leading to the rise of newer ones. more dangerous drugs.
“We do not accept that the only way to truly stop the fentanyl and opioid epidemic in Arizona is to treat it through education and rehabilitation,” said D-Phoenix Senator Anna Hernandez. “We must address it through education, harm reduction and rehabilitation.”
Hernandez’s Republican colleagues, however, took a tougher stance on the issue.
“If someone is selling fentanyl as part of an organized crime enterprise, I will not apologize. They deserve to die,” R-Lake Havasu’s Senator Sonny Borrelli said on the Senate floor. said in an impassioned speech.
“As far as I’m concerned, we need express lanes to the gas chambers,” Mr Borelli said, adding that anyone handling fentanyl should be “shot in the head”.
Khan thanked Borelli for his “passion” and said he “completely agreed with every word he said.”
Khan said the bill was major mirror It is run by Congressman Paul Gosser (R-Prescott) in Washington DC and is seeking the death penalty or life imprisonment for fentanyl dealers. Khan reiterated in the Senate that the bill is aimed at dealers, not people giving pills to each other.
“This bill seeks to address a crisis in our country, a crisis in Arizona,” Khan said, adding that fentanyl is flowing across the U.S.-Mexico border. I don’t think there is anything.”
The bill has passed the Senate and will be considered in the next state House of Representatives.
