Attorney General Mike Hunter today issued the following statement commending the members of both the Oklahoma House and Senate after approving a bill that criminalizes the trafficking of fentanyl and its equivalents.
Senate Bill 1078 is the first piece of legislation recommended by the Oklahoma Commission on Opioid Abuse to pass both chambers and make it to the governor’s desk.
“In 2016, fentanyl accounted for more than 20,000 deaths in the United States, overtaking overdose deaths attributed to heroin, cocaine, meth and methadone,” Attorney General Hunter said. “Criminalizing fentanyl provides our law enforcement partners with a vital tool to arrest and charge drug traffickers, who are looking to sell fentanyl and its equivalent to Oklahomans. Without this important legislation, a drug trafficker could have pounds of fentanyl in a vehicle during a traffic stop and law enforcement wouldn’t be able to take action.
“I thank the members of both the House and Senate for working together to pass this legislation. This is a significant step in the right direction as we work to curb the state’s opioid epidemic.”
Read SB 1078, here: https://bit.ly/2EjuMME.
Drugs Involved in U.S. Overdose Deaths* - Among the more than 64,000 drug overdose deaths estimated in 2016, the sharpest increase occurred among deaths related to fentanyl and fentanyl analogs (synthetic opioids) with over 20,000 overdose deaths. Source: CDC WONDER
Chart obtained from the National Institute on Drug Abuse: https://bit.ly/1RxOFVr.