State Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) at his laptop during a virtual public safety forum in April | senatorcurran.com/
State Sen. John Curran (R-Downers Grove) at his laptop during a virtual public safety forum in April | senatorcurran.com/
State legislators are considering legislation aimed at tackling the fentanyl crisis. However, state Sen. John Curran (R-Lemont) believes that certain elements of one bill would be counterproductive.
"We do have a crisis with regards to fentanyl and deaths. These people are not knowingly ingesting fentanyl, but the product they're acquiring is being laced with it," Curran said from the Senate floor. "If we want to get serious about combatting that and getting the people that are lacing these products with fentanyl - to add the element 'known or should have known' to the prosecution - to raise that burden in holding one accountable for those actions - that is a giant step backwards in accountability. I think that this bill, while you have a lot of good intentions, Senator, in this bill, that is a big step backwards in holding the individuals accountable that are causing and wrecking travesty and damage throughout this state and wrecking families with these tragedies. So I would just ask you reconsider adding that element to the weight of what a prosecutor must prove in holding someone accountable. It's a step backwards, and I would certainly - based on that alone - urge a 'no' vote."
According to ABC Heart of Illinois, one proposal would decriminalize having synthetic opioids in one's system in the hopes that more people would seek treatment. Another proposal, sponsored by Sen. Laura Ellman (D-Naperville), would provide drug testing kits to pharmacies to distribute to users, following the same logic as providing clean needles to drug addicts.
According to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH), 2,944 Illinoisans died from opioid overdoses in 2020, which was a 33% increase from 2019. Of all the drug overdose deaths in 2020, 83% involved synthetic opioids. Synthetic opioid overdose deaths increased by 2,736% from 2013 to 2020. Opioids killed more than twice as many Illinoisans as car crashes in 2020.
According to the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics (NCDAS), 97,779 Americans died from drug overdoses from March 2020 to March 2021. Opioids were a factor in almost 70% of those deaths.
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