AZ: Hobbs vetoes bills increasing sentences for fentanyl, legalizing silencers
Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed five bills Tuesday, including one that critics argued would have made having one fentanyl pill amount to intent to sell and another bill that would have removed silencers from the state’s prohibited weapon’s list.
Although Senate Bill 1027 was positioned as a way to enhance penalties for people who manufacture fentanyl and similar drugs around children, the measure also included sweeping changes to laws criminalizing possession of fentanyl, heroin and other opioids. Among other things, it would have created lengthy mandatory minimum sentences for drug users, similar to laws already on the books for methamphetamine possession and use.
Last week, Hobbs signed a bill that continues the state’s “Good Samaritan” law, which allows for a person who calls emergency services for an overdose to not be charged or prosecuted for possession of drugs. In her veto letter, she said that SB1027 conflicts with that law.
Fentanyl in Arizona has seen a boom in recent years. Recently, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes, along with members of the Tempe Police Department, announced a seizure of 4.5 million fentanyl-laced fake prescription pills largely produced and distributed by the Sinaloa drug cartel.
The drug has also overtaken heroin for the first time as the most-trafficked drug across the U.S.-Mexico border. In Pima County, health officials have begun to distribute test strips to help residents determine if their drugs contain fentanyl.
https://www.azmirror.com/blog/hobbs-vetoes-bills-increasing-sentences-for-fentanyl-legalizing-silencers/
