Once upon a time, the authorities were heavily focused on marijuana, then cocaine or “crack,” then meth – and now it’s fentanyl.
It’s true that fentanyl-laced street drugs are a major issue in the United States right now. This powerful opioid is being laced into other drugs to give them a bigger impact for users. The risks of an overdose are high, especially if someone thinks they are taking a handful of vicodin or something else they know they can tolerate and they do not realize the drugs are tainted.
Unfortunately, the authorities in Texas (along with several other states) have chosen to react to this issue by carving out special laws that specifically allow anybody who “deals” drugs with fentanyl in them to be prosecuted for murder if someone overdoses.
Overdoses on fentanyl are now classified differently
Essentially, House Bill 6, which was passed and went into effect in 2023, now requires medical examiners to mark death certificates involving fentanyl overdoses as death caused by “fentanyl poisoning” as opposed to “fentanyl toxicity.” This allows the police to treat the death as a murder, and charge those who manufactured or delivered the fatal dose to the victim with a crime. If convicted, someone charged with fentanyl murder faces between 10 and 99 years in prison.
The goal of the legislation was to make it “too risky” for dealers to continue adding fentanyl to their drugs, and to punish those who continued. In theory, that might work. In practice, the police usually can’t trace the drugs back to the dealer or source – but they may be able to trace it back to the victim’s friend or relative who supplied them with the pills. More often than not, it’s someone who unintentionally supplied the victim with the fatal drugs – and may have taken some themselves – who gets charged.
If you’re facing charges of fentanyl murder, the situation is serious. Seeking immediate legal guidance is wise.