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A2 UP FRONT
Monday 4 april 2022
States look for solutions as U.S. fentanyl deaths keep rising

Continued from Front a new crime of adding fen- February, when five people
tanyl to another drug. were found dead in a sub-
“This is a harm-reduction “Their initial reaction is, ‘We urban Denver apartment
approach that has re- have to do something,’” from overdoses of fentanyl
ceived a lot of accep- he said. “It’s not just about mixed with cocaine.
tance,” he said. “We can- doing something, it’s about Under state law, possession
not treat somebody if doing the right thing that with intent to distribute less
they’re dead.” actually has results.” than 14 grams of fentanyl is
Since last year, at least a But for many lawmakers, an offense normally punish-
half-dozen states have en- making sure that tough able by two to four years
acted similar laws and at criminal penalties apply to in prison. But fentanyl is so
least a dozen others have fentanyl is a priority. potent that 14 grams can
considered them, accord- California Assemblywoman represent up to 700 lethal
ing to research by the Na- Janet Nguyen, a Repub- doses, under a calculation
tional Conference of State Guns, drugs and money are displayed at a press conference, lican, introduced a mea- used by the U.S. Drug En-
Thursday, June 20, 2019, in Boston.
Legislatures. Associated Press sure that would make pen- forcement Agency.
In West Virginia, the state alties for dealing fentanyl “It’s making it impossible to
hardest hit by opioids per whose district includes cen- Pushkin, who also is in long- just as harsh as those for hold the dealer account-
capita, lawmakers passed tral Charleston, has also term addiction recovery, selling cocaine or heroin. able for the deadliness
a bill this month to legal- been pushing for more ac- is pleased with passage of The Republican represents of the drugs they’re ped-
ize the testing strips. It now cess to fentanyl strips. He the testing strip bill but up- Orange County, where dling,” Colorado House
heads to the governor. said the situation got worse set with another measure there were more than 600 Speaker Alec Garnett, a
The measure was spon- last year when a state law passed this month that reported fentanyl-related Democrat, said in an inter-
sored by Republican law- tightened regulations on would increase the penal- deaths last year. view.
makers. But state Delegate needle exchanges, caus- ties for trafficking fentanyl. “This is sending messages He and a bipartisan group
Mike Pushkin, a Democrat ing some of them to close. That bill also would create to those who aren’t afraid of lawmakers last week un-
of selling these drugs that veiled a bill also backed
there’s a longer, bigger by Democratic Gov. Jared
penalty than you might Polis that would increase
think,” said Nguyen, whose penalties for dealers with
bill failed to advance from smaller amounts of fen-
her chamber’s public safe- tanyl and in cases where
ty committee in a 5-2 vote the drug leads to a death.
last week. She said after The legislation also would
the bill failed that she was increase the accessibility
considering trying again. of naloxone and test strips
She said committee mem- while steering people who
bers stressed compassion possess fentanyl into edu-
for drug users, something cation and treatment pro-
she said she agrees with. grams.
“The less available these “We have the largest in-
pills are out there, the bet- carceration rate in the en-
ter it is,” Nguyen said. “And tire world and we’re also
that is going after the drug setting records in terms of
dealer.” overdose deaths,” she said.
The same day her mea- Democratic governors
sure failed to advance, are focusing primarily on
a Democratic lawmaker harm reduction methods.
in California announced Among them is Illinois Gov.
a different bill to increase Jay Pritzker, who released
fentanyl-dealing penalties. a broad overdose action
The National Conference plan last month.
of State Legislatures found Several Republican gover-
12 states with fentanyl-spe- nors and attorneys general
cific drug trafficking or pos- have responded to the ris-
session laws as of last year. ing death toll with adminis-
Similar measures have trative enforcement efforts
been introduced or consid- and by pushing for more
ered since the start of 2021 federal intervention.
in at least 19 states, the As- Last year, Texas Gov. Greg
sociated Press found in an Abbott and Arizona Gov.
analysis of bills compiled Doug Ducey called for
by LegiScan. That does not states to help secure the
include measures to add border with Mexico. Along
more synthetic opioids to with trying to keep people
controlled substance lists from entering the U.S., stop-
to mirror federal law; those ping the flow of fentanyl
have been adopted in was cited as a reason.
many states, with biparti- Several other Republican
san support. governors have sent con-
Fentanyl has been in the tingents of state troopers or
spotlight in Colorado since National Guard units.q