Tim Whelan
BOSTON – The powerful narcotic fentanyl was the target of legislation passed by the state House of Representative recently which would create a new crime of trafficking amounts of the drug greater than 10 grams.
State Representative Tim Whelan (R-Brewster) said there have already been 550 deaths in the past two years attributed to fentanyl.
He said drug cartels near the US border in Mexico find it is more profitable to manufacture fentanyl in their country and ship it north.
“It’s 30 to 50 times more potent than heroin,” he said. “And the cutting of it with other agents [like heroin] very often will contain a fatal amount which causes overdose.”
It’s also very fast-acting, he said, so EMS workers often don’t have time to respond to these overdoses.
Whelan said he plans on following-up with law enforcement if the bill is passed, to see if it requires any tweaking.
The bill now faces approval from the senate.
Eliminate the 10 grams. Any possession of this drug should be criminal.
It is criminal, before this law you could have pounds of it and face a simple possession charge, that’s what this law addresses. anything over 10g is trafficking once passed