Fentanyl traffickers could face tougher penalties in Georgia under a bill on its way to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for approval after back-to-back votes in the House and Senate on Friday.
The legislation would heighten mandatory minimum sentences in an effort to curb fentanyl trafficking and overdoses of the lethal drug across the state.
The votes came just days after the Sandy Springs Police and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Atlanta seized about 53 pounds of fentanyl pills and 11 pounds of powdered fentanyl, which could be the largest recorded drug bust of the synthetic opioid in Georgia history. Officers also seized 2 pounds of cocaine, 1 pound of methamphetamine and two firearms.
Under Senate Bill 79, sponsored by state Sen. Russ Goodman, R-Cogdell, those convicted of trafficking between 4 and 8 grams of fentanyl would be subject to a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence and a $75,000 fine. On the high end, trafficking offenses for weights of at least 28 grams would carry 35 years in prison and $750,000 in fines.
Judges could depart from the penalties in some instances, such as a case where someone had no prior criminal history or if the fentanyl trafficking did not result in a death.
“This measure, in my view, does a tremendous amount to deter fentanyl operations from operating in our state,” said House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration, R-Mulberry.
Even Rep. Long Tran, D-Dunwoody, who had reservations about the mandatory minimums, ultimately voted for the measure.
He cited the recent cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs saying that for vulnerable populations, counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl are more readily available and affordable than accessing health services.
“It should not be easier for students and veterans to turn to criminals for counterfeit drugs that will ultimately kill them,” he said.
Opponents said mandatory minimums are ineffective at deterring crime and helping people who struggle with drug addiction.
Rep. Scott Holcomb, D-Atlanta, who opposed the bill, acknowledged the devastating toll fentanyl overdose deaths have taken on families across the state but said mandatory minimums are poor public policy.
“Mandatory minimums do not deter crime,” he said. “What does deter crime is the probability of getting caught.”
The measure passed in the House 131-31. In the Senate, the bill received unanimous support.
Earlier this week, the House Non-Judiciary Committee cut a provision in the bill that would have created a separate schedule of offenses for fentanyl possession.
The effort to stiffen penalties comes as nationally the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found about 87,000 overdose deaths from October 2023 to September 2024, a nearly 24% decline in deaths from the year prior.
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