Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs approves minimum prison sentences for fentanyl traffickers
PHOENIX - Legislation targeting fentanyl dealers was signed into law by Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, who announced the bill signing on Wednesday.
Offenders who are convicted with more than 200 grams of the drug will face five-to-10 year sentences, while repeat offenders are looking at sentences of 10-to-20 years.
"To date, in 2024 alone, 71% of non-fatal overdoses in Arizona involve fentanyl," Hobbs said in a press conference. "In Maricopa County alone, an average of over three people die every day due to fentanyl. Something has to be done."
The announcement arrives after state troopers announced they had seized more than 1,500 pounds of fentanyl in six months. While some see the bill as a step forward, critics say more needs to be done.
Katie Gipson McLean of the Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice does not believe mandatory minimum sentences will be enough of a deterrent to criminals trafficking drugs.
"I would love for somebody to show evidence that this is the type of law that would change sales of fentanyl or fentanyl use," McLean said.
Arizona DPS sargent Eric Andrews said that something needed to be done to cut off the influx of drugs into the state.
"It's known that Arizona is one of the main corridors for the cartels to be utilizing. So, clearly, we're doing as much as we can to stay on top of that and to cut off that supply as much as we can here in the state of Arizona," Andrews said.
"Nothing has taken hold like fentanyl with both the addictive properties of it and just how much we are seeing and how easily it's produced by the cartels on the other side of the border and then transported up here."
In what was the largest drug bust by state troopers in Eloy at the beginning of the year, 208 pounds of the narcotic were found with a street value well above the $1 million mark.
The bill goes into effect in 90 days.
What are the origins of the bill?
The law Gov. Hobbs signed was also known as the Ashley Dunn Act.
Dunn was a 26-year-old woman from Prescott who died in May 2021 from Fentanyl poisoning.
She was poisoned after ingesting just one-half of a counterfeit pill laced with fentanyl.
She was in intensive care for 86 days, according to her mother, Josephine.
Ashley Dunn Bill honors fentanyl trafficking victim
The Ashley Dunn Bill, which mandates minimum prison sentences for fentanyl dealers, is named after a 26-year-old woman from Prescott who overdosed on a pill laced with fentanyl. Her family is celebrating the passing of the law but still mourning the loss of their daughter. FOX 10's Lindsey Ragas has more.
"I really cannot put a word on it to describe that pain. I can tell you that I have cried more than an ocean of tears," Josephine told FOX10.
She added that more needs to be done to address the fentanyl crisis, including addiction treatment and education.