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Committee forwards bill to criminalize knowingly exposing children or vulnerable adults to fentanyl to Public Safety
Summary
House File 897 would add fentanyl to the statute that criminalizes exposing children and vulnerable adults to methamphetamine. Testifiers including prosecutors and advocacy groups urged the change, citing fentanyl's extreme potency and rising poisonings; the committee re‑referred the bill to Public Safety.
The committee voted to re‑refer House File 897 to the Public Safety Committee after testimony from prosecutors, advocacy groups and impacted community members calling for heightened penalties when caretakers knowingly expose children or vulnerable adults to fentanyl.
Rep. Knudson, the bill’s author, told the committee the legislation aligns the criminal penalty that now covers methamphetamine with fentanyl because "exposure to the poison that is fentanyl is a likely death sentence." Several testifiers—prosecutors and community advocates—detailed fatal and…
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