A bill that would have enhanced Nevada’s fentanyl penalties failed to pass after an Assembly committee hearing, while a companion bill was heavily modified in a last-minute move for Nevada leadership plans. Democratic to send fentanyl legislation to governor’s desk.
The revised legislation begins with low-level trafficking charges of 28 grams of possession for fentanyl, which was previously proposed at 4 grams. The change occurred Friday night in the Assembly Judiciary Committee, hours before the deadline for most bills to pass their second committee.
For months, harm reduction experts and some Democrats have warned the legislation starting at 4 grams would repeat “war on drugs” policies that criminalize low-level users. Those concerns animated bill hearings and back-door discussions, pushed by the Democratic leadership but questioned by many rank-and-file members of the Assembly.
KY GROUP MAKES 1ST FUNDING AWARD TO FIGHT THE OPIOID CRISIS IN THE STATE
Fentanyl trafficking cases in Nevada currently begin with 100 grams of possession, the result of a 2019 criminal justice reform law promised by Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo to go back on his campaign promises.
Lombardo wants to make possession of fentanyl in any amount a category B felony, similar to the penalties for trafficking. Members of the Democratic leadership, including Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, have indicated they have no plans to hear his landmark public safety legislation. Cannizzaro sponsored the Democratic bill that did not pass.
The Nevada state Capitol building is seen in Carson City, Nevada, on March 15, 2017. Democrat lawmakers in Nevada have rejected their bill aimed at increasing penalties for fentanyl. Another companion bill was modified by a last-minute Democrat move to send the fentanyl law to the governor’s desk. (Educational Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Democratic Attorney General Aaron Ford presented the revised fentanyl bill and answered questions from lawmakers at two hearings. Ford’s office described the last-minute changes as a “compromise between several groups with an interest in this issue” in a tweet after the hearings.
The bill sponsored by Ford includes a provision that provides legal protection to people who seek medical help for someone who has experienced an overdose. The proposal would also create medication-assisted treatment programs in jails and prisons for people with substance use disorders, if funding is available.
Fentanyl is often mixed with supplies of other drugs, including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine. Some users are looking for it. Some don’t even know they’re taking it.
Taking 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be fatal, while 1 gram — about the weight of a paper clip — can contain 500 lethal doses.
Imposing longer prison sentences for possession of smaller amounts of drugs represents a shift in states that in recent years have waived penalties for drug possession. State legislatures including Oregon, West Virginia, South Carolina and Alabama have debated or passed tougher penalties for lower amounts of fentanyl.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The bill also directs a committee to study the cost of upgrading state crime labs to test the amount of fentanyl in a mixed drug.
Harm reduction advocates and some lawmakers have expressed concerns about state labs, which only test for the presence of fentanyl, not the exact proportions of a drug mixture.
At the hearings, they said a few milligrams of fentanyl mixed with larger amounts of other drugs could cause defendants to be subject to stricter penalties for trafficking fentanyl under state probation protocols. , even though they knew the drugs contained fentanyl.
