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Posted
June 23, 2023

Harsh new fentanyl laws spark debate on best approach to combat overdose deaths

Dozens of states, devastated by unrelenting overdose deaths, have legislation and other laws to severely ratchet up penalties for fentanyl use and distribution, but critics say a fierce law-and-order approach could undermine public health goals and advances in addiction treatment (Source: “Harsh New Fentanyl Laws Ignite Debate Over How to Combat Overdose Crisis,” New York Times, June 21).

In the 2023 legislative session alone, hundreds of fentanyl crime bills were introduced in at least 46 states, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures. Virginia lawmakers codified fentanyl as “a weapon of terrorism.” An Iowa law makes the sale or manufacture of less than five grams of fentanyl — roughly the weight of five paper clips — punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Arkansas and Texas recently joined some 30 states, including Pennsylvania, Colorado and Wyoming, that have a drug-induced homicide statute on the books, allowing murder prosecutions even of people who share drugs socially that contain lethal fentanyl doses.

The bills are intended to beat back a deadly substance that has infiltrated much of the illicit drug supply in the United States. But they are renewing a debate over whether unsparing law enforcement can be effective and equitable in addressing a public health crisis.

“We are falling back on these really comfy, straightforward law-and-order solutions in spite of the fact that they didn’t work before, they’re not working now, and there’s growing evidence telling us they’re making things worse,” said Jennifer Carroll, a medical anthropologist at North Carolina State University. She is an author of a recent study that found that 911 calls and overdose fatalities doubled in Indianapolis the week following a major opioid drug bust as people who relied on dealers who were arrested frantically sought fresh sources.