But even in boldly liberal parts of the state, murder investigations of fentanyl overdoses are being used to discourage fentanyl sales and provide some level of justice for families. Corkery writes, "Some other counties — like San Diego and Placer, near Sacramento — that have also brought murder charges against fentanyl suppliers have sizable numbers of conservative-minded voters who tend to favor more punitive approaches to crime." Even in San Francisco, the district attorney's office is planning to prosecute fentanyl dealers for overdose deaths.
While prosecutors pursue murder charges against fentanyl dealers, their cases are on murky legal ground. "Prosecutors have been working around the fact that California does not have a law that specifically allows fentanyl deaths to be charged as murders," Corkery explains.
Defense attorneys have responded to the prosecutions as "overbroad and unconstitutional," Corkery reports. But their complaints are being drowned out. "Parents whose children died from fentanyl are a driving force behind new laws and stepped-up prosecutions just as the parents of drunken-driving victims swayed the nation to crack down on alcohol-fueled traffic deaths decades ago."
To read more on how California prosecutors are using the Watson murder rule to prosecute fentanyl suppliers, click here.
Drug Enforcement Administration statistics draw a startling picture of fentanyl's lethal power: It is the leading cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45, and it's responsible for nearly 70 percent of the United
States' 107,000+ drug overdose deaths in the past year. A educational warning video is shared below.
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