SACRAMENTO—Amid a growing opioid crisis, the effort to impose harsher penalties on fentanyl trafficking failed in an Assembly committee on April 19 by a 3–2 vote.
Assembly Bill (AB) 2246 would have re-classified fentanyl as a Schedule I drug along the lines of heroin and cocaine.
Under the proposal, traffickers would have faced 20 years to life in prison for fentanyl distribution of two grams or more resulting in death.
Current state law enforces longer prison sentencing—adding one to two more years—for selling heroin and cocaine in or nearby a facility that serves children, such as schools, child care centers, or churches. AB 2246 would have added fentanyl to the list.
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