The state House has passed a bill Monday that would make it easier to trigger harsher penalties for selling fentanyl.
The bill did not change the severity of the prison sentences, which the bill’s sponsor said was aimed at mid-level drug dealers.
Current law triggers a minimum five-year sentence for possessing or transporting 200 grams of fentanyl for sale.
The bill aims to lower that threshold to 100 grams, which by some estimates could equal about 1,000 pills. The measure, passed with 59 House members approving and one not voting, now goes to the Senate.
The vote comes weeks after preliminary data shows Arizona was one of just a handful of states that saw an increase in overdose deaths in the latest CDC report.
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