SC Senate passes bill that can charge fentanyl dealers with homicide

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WSPA) – A bill passed in the South Carolina Senate would hold drug dealers accountable for deadly fentanyl overdoses.

The Senate unanimously passed the fentanyl induced homicide bill, with no hesitation.

The bill would mean homicide charges could be filed against anyone who knowingly provides fentanyl, which leads to a death. If convicted, the person could be sentenced to a maximum of 30 years in prison.

“We already have laws in place for trafficking, dealing, possession intent to distribute and all that. We just didn’t have the piece in place to go after them. If somebody dies on the day they sell it. So, this would give them that extra tool,” Senator Brian Adams (R – District 44) said.

The bill passed in the Senate last session, but never made it through the House. Adams believes the bill would give family members, who have lost a loved one to fentanyl, a sense of closure.

“I’m a retired law enforcement officer, and over my years I worked narcotics undercover,” Adams said. “I’ve watched fentanyl come into our state and how it has negatively impacted our kids with such a devastating place so rapidly.”

Representative Seth Rose (D – District 72) is a member of the Criminal Law Subcommittee. He supports targeting dealers but believed there could be confusion with the wording of the bill.

“If someone distributes fentanyl and it is the direct cause, it causes the death, there’s no questions that needs to be addressed,” Rose said. “So I think that language needs to be tightened, and we need to actually focus to be very thoughtful on what we are trying to stop.”

Rose said he will propose amendments to this bill when it comes before his committee.

“It needs to not encompass possession, there also needs to be an element where it must have been sold, there must be something exchanged for value.”

There is another bill in the Senate called the ‘Drug Induced Homicide Bill,’ which discusses all drugs. That bill has been put on hold in the Senate.

The bill will head to the House next week.