The Kentucky Senate has voted to make all trafficking in heroin or Fentanyl Class C felonies. Proponents hope the change would result in fewer overdose deaths.
Bill sponsor John Schickel told fellow senators that, since 2011, trafficking in less than two grams of heroin has been punishable by one to five years in prison. Under this proposed legislation, a convicted trafficker would face a five to ten year sentence.
The floor debate broadened to include discussion of prescribed opioid abuse. Senate President Robert Stivers spoke of a Lexington Herald-Leader report detailing 3 million doses of opioid-related medications over 12 months in his Clay County district.
“We can talk about education, we can talk about training," Stivers said. "But when you have not got the mental capabilities of walking in because you’re on drugs, you can’t get the training, you can’t get the education.”
Stivers said he will do what he can to change the dynamics in his community regarding drug problems, even if it might cost him politically four years from now.
