Massachusetts Opioid Crisis: Bristol DA Wants Tougher Fentanyl Penalties

NEW BEDFORD, MA — Massachusetts lawmakers have filed legislation to increase penalties for trafficking fentanyl, a highly deadly drug blamed for an increase in overdose deaths in Massachusetts. In 2016, opioid overdoses across Massachusetts increased 16 percent, according to state police. Officials cited fentanyl as a major contributor.

Fentanyl, a synthetic drug about 100 times more powerful than heroin, is a popular painkiller in hospitals that comes in the form of a patch. It's often mixed with heroin by drug dealers.

Democratic State Representatives Christopher Markey, of Dartmouth, and Antonio Cabral, of New Bedford, on Tuesday announced they filed legislation that would allow state prosecutors to hold an alleged fentanyl trafficker for up to 120 days without bail upon his/her arrest. Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn collaborated with the lawmakers on the bill.

"Clearly, trafficking in fentanyl presents a danger to the community," Quinn said in a statement. “Our office should be able to ask the court, when warranted, to hold someone trafficking fentanyl as a danger to the public. Right now there is no legal authority for us to make this request. This must be amended."

Said Markey, “Drug dealers are intentionally mixing fentanyl with illicit drugs, which make them far more potent and increasingly more fatal as a result. The callous actions of these drug dealers have directly contributed to the loss of thousands of lives across the state and adversely impacts entire neighborhoods and families."

"In our continuing efforts to add penalties to individuals illegally using fentanyl, this legislation will strengthen the dangerousness hearing statute by including this dangerous drug into the process," Markey added.

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