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Committee approves HB 87 to increase penalties for large fentanyl trafficking; sponsors describe presumptive prison policy
Summary
The committee adopted a first substitute and an amendment, and passed HB 87 as amended. The bill makes trafficking 100 grams or more of fentanyl a first-degree felony with a presumptive prison sentence, sponsors said, and the measure received broad support from law enforcement, victim advocates and prosecutors in committee testimony.
House Bill 87, a bill that raises penalties for large-scale fentanyl trafficking, advanced out of the House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee after the committee adopted a first substitute, approved an amendment, and then passed the measure by voice vote.
Representative Gwynn, the bill sponsor, framed the bill as an urgent response to a sharp rise in opioid and fentanyl deaths in Utah. He told the committee fentanyl is extremely potent—“Fentanyl can be lethal, I believe, at 2 milligrams” and that carfentanil, an even stronger opioid, “can be lethal at 2 micrograms.” He said…
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