BEAUMONT, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott signed House Bill 6 to fight the Fentanyl crisis that goes into effect September 1.
The governor signed into enactment House Bill 6. It says a state prosecutor can charge a person for murder for distributing fentanyl laced drug which results in someone's death, it carries a minimum of 15 years, says District Attorney of Jefferson County, Keith Giblin.
The bill also requires deaths caused by fentanyl to be designated as fentanyl toxicity or fentanyl poisoning on a death certificate.
Current law does not require such classification on a death certificate, with most fentanyl-related deaths currently classified as an overdose.
The District Attorney's office has hired Former United States Attorney Brit Featherston to be a prosecutor.
Executive Assistant District Attorney of Jefferson County, Brit Featherston says the law will also require first responders to keep record of people who overdose.
"It's just general info whether there was a death or not, do we know at the time was it involving fentanyl or not, was it male or female. So, we can use that data in real time and law enforcement can use it that data to determine is there a batch of bad pills in the community," he said.
Regional Clinical Director of Texas Treatment Service, Jennifer Sawyer, says Fentanyl is invading communities.
"Fentanyl is coming in at mass rates. They're cutting all kind of drugs with it, people don't even know they're using it," she said.
Five years ago, Wyndi Padgett, of Sour Lake, endured every parent's nightmare when she lost her son, Blain Padgett, to a Fentanyl-laced drug.
Blain Padgett was a 21-year-old football player for Rice University who was sold a Hydrocodone pill that was laced with Fentanyl.
Now the mother is glad to see distributors facing a harsher punishment.
"I hate that it's come to this because that means that enough people have died , enough people's kids have died for it to become this serious. The fact that they admitted that the pill killed Blain, yet it wasn't a murder charge. I think it would have made me feel better," she said.
Today, Wyndi continues to be an advocate for families and spreading the message that "One Pill Can Kill."
"We miss seeing him do what he loved to do. He had a big smile every time he walked through the door and a big hug. He just brighten everyone's day," she said.
Featherston said the District Attorney's Office is planning to hast a Town Hall Meeting next month to discuss the dangers of Fentanyl.
House Bill 6 (Goldman/Huffman) creates a criminal offense of murder for supplying fentanyl that results in death, enhances the criminal penalty for the manufacturing or delivery of fentanyl, and requires deaths caused by fentanyl to be designated as fentanyl toxicity or fentanyl poisoning on a death certificate. Current law does not require such classification on a death certificate, with most fentanyl-related deaths currently classified as an overdose.
House Bill 3144 (Lujan/Campbell) establishes October as Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Month to help increase awareness of the dangers of fentanyl.
House Bill 3908 (Wilson/Creighton), also known as Tucker’s Law, requires public schools each year to provide research-based instruction on fentanyl abuse prevention and drug poisoning awareness to students grades 6 through 12. The bill also requires the Governor to designate a Fentanyl Poisoning Awareness Week.
Senate Bill 867 (West/Rose) allows the distribution of opioid antagonists, including life-saving NARCAN, to Texas colleges and universities to prevent opioid poisonings.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.