Minnesota Republican Rep. Ron Kresha of Little Falls has introduced a bill into the House to fight the fentanyl epidemic.

The bill, co-authored by Rep. Isaac Schultz (R), adds illicitly manufactured fentanyl to the current statute on the sale of controlled substances. This means those found moving or distributing the drug would be held to the same level of accountability as those distributing heroin.

Penalties include a gross misdemeanor, which carries a charge of up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

“Our plan was to really step this up. The sheriffs had contacted us, and they were hoping that by putting these stiffer penalties together that we could really get to the heart of where these fentanyl distributions were coming in,” said Rep. Kresha. “We can’t desensitize our communities to the fact that drugs are out there and they’re finding their ways into schools, and they’re finding their ways into youth that are dealing with all sorts of stress and anxieties, and they’re looking to this as a solution, and what’s happening is, the solution is killing people.”

According to the CDC, fentanyl accounted for 881, or nearly 59%, of Minnesota’s record high of 1,500 drug overdose deaths in 2021.

By — Lakeland News