NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7985
SPONSOR: Slater TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of
criminal sale of a controlled substance resulting in death, a class A-1
felony
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Establishes the crime of criminal sale of a controlled substance result-
ing in death.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
A person is guilty of criminal sale of a controlled substance resulting
in death when he or she sells, exchanges, gives, disposes of or supplies
to the victim a controlled substance listed as schedule I, II, III, IV,
or V and the use of such controlled substance causes the death of the
victim. Criminal Sale of a controlled substance resulting in death is a
class A-1 felony.
JUSTIFICATION:
The opioid epidemic that our country is facing and that our local commu-
nities are dealing with every day, is becoming more and more deadly with
the increasing prevalence of Fentanyl and Xylazine. These substances are
often mixed in with other illicit substances to increase potency while
keeping costs down. This increased potency has exacerbated the opioid
crisis. As a result, overdose deaths across the state and country have
significantly increased due to the presence of Fentanyl and Xylazine in
various drugs.
Currently, it is very difficult for prosecutors to hold dealers account-
able for the deaths they are causing. At the federal level the dealers
can be charged for this crime, but often times federal prosecutors elect
not to go after these lower level dealers. This bill would give the same
tools that federal prosecutors have to our state and local officials so
they can hold these dealers accountable for the deaths they cause.
Those that sell these drugs know how dangerous they are and when the
substances they sell result in the death of someone else, the dealers
should be held responsible for that death.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have
become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
on or before such effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7985
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
August 18, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SLATER -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to establishing the crime of
criminal sale of a controlled substance resulting in death, a class
A-1 felony
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The penal law is amended by adding a new section 125.30 to
2 read as follows:
3 § 125.30 Criminal sale of a controlled substance resulting in death.
4 A person is guilty of criminal sale of a controlled substance result-
5 ing in death when he or she, in violation of article thirty-three of the
6 public health law, sells, exchanges, gives, disposes of or supplies to
7 the victim a controlled substance listed in schedule I, II, III, IV or V
8 of section thirty-three hundred six of the public health law and the use
9 of such controlled substance causes the death of the victim.
10 Criminal sale of a controlled substance resulting in death is a class
11 A-1 felony.
12 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
13 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
14 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
15 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
16 on or before such effective date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD13108-01-3
