If someone dies in a fentanyl overdose, Arizona should punish the dealer

News coverage of a Mesa police officer losing consciousness in his patrol car from an overdose certainly highlights, if sensationally, the crisis that is opioids, in particular fentanyl.

But how to best tackle the problem has been elusive.

Remember the special legislative session in early 2018 that tightened opioid prescriptions?

Restrictions that did little to slow deaths from overdoses but created their own set of problems, such as blocking access to relief for chronic pain sufferers.

Last year, a candidate for state attorney general — a former Arizona Supreme Court justice, no less — went as far as to propose the death penalty for fentanyl traffickers.

Michael K. Williams' overdose is a lesson

This session, the state Legislature approved two bills that called for mandatory prison sentences for convictions of possessing, distributing, transferring, selling or manufacturing fentanyl.

Gov. Katie Hobbs vetoed both bills, objecting to sweeping punishment, including of users, instead of narrowly focusing on manufacturers of the drug.

Are we perhaps overthinking it?

Earlier this month, a federal district court judge in New York sentenced a drug dealer to 10 years in prison for selling fentanyl-laced heroin to the actor Michael K. Williams, who found fame in the HBO series “The Wire” and died from an overdose.

The judge said she intended the length of the sentence to send a message to both the defendant — he had dealt drugs for years and continued to do so after Williams’ death — and to others who sell fentanyl.

“It’s got to stop,” she said.

The judge got that right. But the sentencing was also about punishment.

Mandatory sentencing laws don't work

Arizona has sufficient laws on the books to hold accountable those whose actions harm others.

We can’t, and needn’t, go after everyone.

Certainly not as a deterrent.

As critics such as the libertarian think tank Cato Institute note, harsh mandatory sentencing laws do nothing to blunt narcotic drugs’ effects.

The institute pointed to a 1,500% spike in methamphetamine deaths in the United States between 2006 and 2021, following voter-approved Proposition 301 in Arizona that imposed mandatory minimum prison sentences for possessing, transferring, selling, distributing or manufacturing meth.

But we can set a standard: If you sell, distribute or otherwise knowingly give someone fentanyl and that person ingests it and dies, you will be prosecuted.

Hold sellers accountable if someone dies

Most people know, especially those who peddle the drug, that just a tiny amount of fentanyl can be lethal.

The point is, when one’s actions result in the loss of life, there needs to be accountability.

It might call for law enforcement agencies to commit to aggressively investigate the direct source of the drug(s) in an overdose fatality and for prosecutors’ offices to vigorously pursue charges when there’s sufficient evidence.

It’s an acknowledgment that an accidental death may also involve a crime.

Another view: Will a police officer's overdose shock us awake?

There are statutes for sale, possession, manufacturing and transportation of dangerous drugs.

And for endangerment. And negligent homicide. All are felonies that prosecutors can contemplate to secure a conviction.

And judges can account for aggravating or mitigating circumstances in weighing sentences.

Fentanyl is killing too many in Arizona

Admittedly, not all cases come as tidy for authorities as Michael K. Williams’ overdose death. Aside from a criminal history, the defendant’s drug transaction with the actor was captured by surveillance camera, according to court documents.

Confirmed opioid deaths have about doubled since the Legislature passed the Arizona Opioid Epidemic Act, numbering about 2,000 a year.

Those trends have tracked similarly in Maricopa County, where 6 in 10 drug-related deaths last year involved fentanyl, oftentimes in tandem with methamphetamine.

Pursuing criminal charges in those roughly 1,300 cases may not make a dent in drug supply or demand. But they would represent a closer step toward justice.

And that can’t be a bad thing.

Reach Abe Kwok at akwok@azcentral.com. On X, formerly Twitter: @abekwok.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Fentanyl dealers should be prosecuted in overdose deaths