* HB17 synopsis…

Amends the Illinois Controlled Substances Act. Provides that for various offenses involving the manufacturer or delivery of fentanyl analogs 3 years shall be added to the term of imprisonment imposed by the court, and the maximum sentence for the offense shall be increased by 3 years. Provides that the 3-year penalty enhancement applies when the person knew or should have known that the substance containing the controlled substance contains any amount of fentanyl or fentanyl analog.

Provides that provisions regarding limited immunity from prosecution for a victim of sexual assault for the use, possession, and consumption of a controlled substance and the limited immunity of a person from prosecution for a drug overdose or for a person who in good faith seeks or obtains emergency medical assistance for someone experiencing an overdose in relation to fentanyl only apply to a person possessing less than 3 grams of a substance containing fentanyl or an analog thereof. Effective immediately.

The bone of contention during Senate debate yesterday was the “person possessing less than 3 grams of a substance containing fentanyl” language. The reason for that language is that small amounts of fentanyl are usually used to lace larger amounts of other substances. Potential lethality is reached at just 2 milligrams, according to the DEA, and such a small amount is super difficult for dealers to package. Oftentimes, people don’t even know that the substance they possess has fentanyl in it, and sometimes those people have died.

Republicans objected because 3 grams of pure fentanyl is enough to kill a small town. So, members of the two parties spent most of the debate talking past each other.

* The debate was unusual in that it featured two speeches from members in each party who had both lost loved ones to accidental and unknowing fentanyl overdoses. First up was Republican Sen. Sally Turner, whose son died from a fentanyl overdose. “He had no idea that fentanyl was laced in what he had,” Sen. Turner said through great emotion…

rich-miller · S Turner

* Democratic Sen. Patricia Van Pelt then related a story about her friend TJ, who struggled for years with drug abuse and had managed to stay clean for a year. But then he bought some cocaine that was unknowingly laced with fentanyl and died. A person who was with him wouldn’t call for help because, she said, he was afraid that the police might think he had something to do with the drugs. “How many lives have we lost because nobody said anything because they were afraid?” Sen. Van Pelt said through tears as she urged a vote in favor of the bill…

rich-miller · Van Pelt

The sponsor, Sen. Laura Ellman, pulled the bill out of the record soon after Sen. Van Pelt’s plea in order to try and find a way to get this bill passed. Sen. Van Pelt is now a co-sponsor.