Kasich signs bill increasing drug penalties

Law creates harsher penalties for fentanyl-related offenses

Ohio Gov. John Kasich has signed a bill into law that creates harsher penalties for fentanyl-related drug offenses.

The newly signed bill among other things creates increased penalties for drug trafficking, possession and aggravated funding of drug trafficking when a fentanyl-related compound is involved.

As many as eight years could be added to prison sentences of those convicted of serious crimes involving fentanyl.

The bill — Senate Bill 1— was signed into law Aug. 1 and goes into effect in 90 days.

Ohio Sen. Frank LaRose, R-Hudson, sponsored the bill.

“Fentanyl is affecting people in every corner of our state, from every socioeconomic background,” LaRose said in June. “We need to make sure the people caught up in this deadly cycle of drug abuse are getting the help they need. That is why (Senate Bill) 1 offers those with small amounts of drugs on them the option for treatment instead of jail time. Drug addicts need help, and traffickers need to be in jail.”

The synthetic opioid is 50 times more powerful than heroin and has been a significant contributor to the rise in overdose deaths in Ohio over the past few years. In 2016, 58 percent of the state’s overdose deaths involved fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health.

“Ohioans are dying at record rates from overdoes caused by fentanyl,” LaRose said. “(Senate Bill) 1 isn’t the complete answer, but it’s a necessary tool in the fight against this devastating epidemic”

The bill passed the Senate in a 27-6 vote in March and passed through the state House 82-12 in June.

Critics of the bill, such as the ACLU of Ohio, argued that it continues the failed “War on Drugs” and continues to pack the state’s overcrowded prisons.

The ACLU of Ohio said at a hearing in January they are greatly concerned about the serious problems of drug addiction and overdose deaths, but the bill won’t “meaningfully affect the overall problem of fentanyl use, abuse, possession and trafficking in their communities, due to the bill’s exclusive focus on severe punishment and prison time.”

In his testimony, ACLU of Ohio’s chief lobbyist, Gary Daniels, asked the committee to reject the “discredited and counterproductive approaches of the past and develop a new framework and strategy to meaningfully address these serious problems affecting Ohioans everywhere.”

“Forty years of the current approach have brought years of failure,” Daniels said.

According to the bill, increased penalties wouldn’t apply if the defendant didn’t know a compound contained fentanyl. When a fentanyl-related drug conviction is connected to a homicide conviction, the newly-signed law would require the prison sentences for each run consecutively.

The newly signed bill among other things creates increased penalties for drug trafficking, possession and aggravated funding of drug trafficking when a fentanyl-related compound is involved.