PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Selling a lethal dose of fentanyl could carry a mandatory 10 years in prison, if a bill currently in the Pennsylvania Senate were to become law.
The bill is named for Tyler Shanafelter, who died at the age of 18 after taking what he thought was Percocet, but it was laced with fentanyl.
“Our commonwealth remains in the midst of what is referred to as an overdose crisis, but quite frankly, we should be called a poisoning crisis,” said Republican state Sen. Doug Mastriano, the prime sponsor of the bill. He said Pennsylvania hasn’t updated its drug delivery resulting in death (DDRD) statute in 10 years.
“We are long overdue for revision, especially in light of the catastrophe occurring in our state.”
More than 5,000 Pennsylvanians died from overdose last year — many of whom unknowingly ingested fentanyl. Mastriano’s bill would carry a 10-year mandatory minimum prison sentence and a minimum $15,000 fine if a drug dealer sells a deadly dose of the powerful opioid.
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“This tailored new penalty will not apply in a scenario of a family member or friend of the deceased who, in many cases, are addicts themselves who aren't a drug dealer and mistakenly shared what they believed to be harmless drugs,” Mastriano added.
The bill moved out of the Senate Judiciary Committee 10-4, with Bucks County Democratic state Sen. Steve Santarsiero joining all Republicans in support.
Philadelphia-based state Sen. Art Haywood, a Democrat, voiced his opposition.
“I'll be a 'no' because we have a decade or more experience that demonstrates that mandatory minimums don't achieve the intended objectives,” he argued.
The bill cleared the committee and has moved to the full Senate.
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