Idaho lawmakers are cracking down on the fentanyl crisis with a new bill slapping anyone who brings a certain amount of the deadly drug into the state with mandatory prison sentences.
Critics of House Bill 406 say that the measure, which passed the House in a 55-13 vote, will inadvertently also target drug users who did not know they bought drugs laced with fentanyl.
The bill, which still has to be approved by the Idaho State Senate before becoming law, does not limit drug trafficking charges to those who deliver or manufacture the drug. “Anyone who brought a certain amount of fentanyl into Idaho could be charged with drug trafficking,” an analysis by the Idaho Statesman found.
Julianne Donnelly Tzul, advocacy director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Idaho, told the local publication that the organization is “strongly opposed” to the bill over these concerns.
Like all of Idaho’s drug trafficking laws, HB 406 categorizes someone as a trafficker based on the amount of drugs in their possession rather than on whether or not they intended to distribute the drug to others.
“Under the bill, if law enforcement authorities find a ‘detectable amount’ of fentanyl in 4 grams of cocaine, for example, the person could be charged with fentanyl trafficking based on the entire amount of drugs,” the analysis reported.
According to Tzul, this “really shifts the due process — checks and balances — away from judges and juries and towards police and prosecutors.”
“We’re turning over the definition of ‘trafficker’ to the police themselves. … That’s not due process,” she said.
The proposed law would also create homicide charges for those who provide fentanyl that someone fatally overdoses on.
The Statesman broke down the penalties for anyone convicted under the bill:
Anyone in possession of 4-14 grams of fentanyl or 100-249 fentanyl pills would be sentenced to at least three years in prison and a minimum fine of $10,000.
Anyone in possession of 14-28 grams or 250-499 pills would be sentenced to at least five years in prison and a minimum fine of $15,000.
Anyone in possession of 28-500 grams or at least 500 pills would be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison and a minimum fine of $25,000.
The maximum penalties are life in prison and a $100,000 fine.
State Rep. David Cannon, (R) voiced his concern that the bill might impact people who unknowingly buy marijuana laced with fentanyl.
“Because of the language of this bill … 4 grams of marijuana which are laced with fentanyl would pull a possessor into the mandatory minimum that (is) set forth by this fentanyl trafficking bill,” said Cannon. “These are users.”
In response to those concerns, Rep. Edward Hill (R) told the Statesman that those hypotheses are a “nonfactor” because Idaho State Police have not tested drugs laced with fentanyl. The comments were echoed by Sen. Todd Lakey (R), another bill sponsor.
According to Hill, drug traffickers “don’t like to come to Idaho for any drug” because of the state’s harsh sentences, but fentanyl is “just not on the list yet.”
“We want to go after that guy who had 50,000 pills, that were sent to 10 schools and killed 10 kids,” he stated. “That’s the objective.”
“It is rare that chiefs, sheriffs, line officers, and prosecutors agree on anything, and unfortunately, fentanyl is the thing that has brought us all together,” Meridian Police Chief Tracy Basterrechea said during a public hearing on the bill. “It has wreaked such havoc on our community and on our vulnerable populations that we realized that we have to do something to stop them.”
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