HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF –
April 4, 2023 – In his February State of the State address, Governor Greg Abbott made addressing the fentanyl crisis an emergency item in this year’s legislative session. Stating that Texas Department of Public Safety officers have seized enough fentanyl to “kill every man, woman, and child in the United States,” Abbott called on lawmakers to classify fentanyl deaths as poisonings, which would allow prosecutors to charge drug dealers with murder.
After years of opposing fentanyl test strips—which are used to determine whether drugs contain the potent opioid, but are currently considered “drug paraphernalia” under Texas law—Abbott announced in December that he now supports legalizing them. “There’s going to be a movement across the state to make sure we do everything that we can to protect people from dying from fentanyl, and I think test strips will be one of those ways,” he said.
The likely passage of Bill SB 645, increases criminal penalties for fentanyl manufacture and distribution, and would allow prosecutors to charge anyone with murder who knowingly provides a fentanyl pill that results in a fatal overdose—as Abbott requested in his State of the State address.
