The Senate Judiciary C Committee approves legislation that increases the penalties for individuals convicted of producing drugs containing fentanyl. Slidell Senator Sharon Hewitt says the current penalty of 5 to 15 years in prison is not enough.
“What this bill does it says for your first conviction it’s 10-to-40, with at least ten years without parole and up to $50,000 fine for your first conviction, said Hewitt.
A second conviction calls for a minimum sentence of 30 years and third conviction will result in at least a 99 year prison sentence. Hewitt says decades ago penalties were increased for those convicted of making heroin and that significantly decreased the amount of heroin on the streets.
“It’s our hope we will send a message that we don’t want the labs, we don’t want the dealers, it’s time to leave our state and go somewhere else,” said Hewitt.
None of the lawmakers on the panel opposed the legislation, but a member of the public Bruce Riley testified against the legislation. Riley questioned whether longer prison sentences is the right solution for addressing the fentanyl crisis.
“And so a lot of energy goes into creating laws like this, building prisons and putting people in them and filling it up, really we need to look at the issue of addiction and treat our neighbors, like we want to treat our own family members,” said Riley.
Despite Riley’s opposition, the measure heads to the Senate floor for more discussion.
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