FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FEBRUARY 26, 2025
SENATE REPUBLICANS PASS FENTANYL MURDER LEGISLATION
COLUMBIA, S.C. — On Wednesday, Republican Senators passed a landmark bill to combat fentanyl-induced homicides in South Carolina.
“We listened to families grieving lost children and to law enforcement officers asking for help,” said Senate President Thomas Alexander, author of Senate bill 156. “Adding the crime of fentanyl-induced homicide will get criminals off our streets and keep more parents from experiencing the heartbreak that too many in Oconee County and throughout the State have known.”
President Alexander’s bill charges drug-dealers who dispense fentanyl and cause death with ‘fentanyl-induced homicide’, a felony punishable by up to thirty years in prison.
“Drugs are wreaking havoc throughout our communities,” added Senator Brian Adams, a retired police officer from Berkeley County. “Too often, kids are getting their hands on drugs secretly laced with fentanyl, and the consequences are devastating. Senate bill 156 ensures bad actors are thrown in jail.”
The legislation follows Act 72 of 2023 which requires mandatory prison time for anyone convicted of trafficking fentanyl in South Carolina.
The bill heads next to the House of Representatives for consideration.
###