New Hampshire Republican senators push for higher minimum sentences for drug dealers
Republicans and Democrats at the New Hampshire State House are at odds over "get tough" legislation on fentanyl, including bills that would set new mandatory minimum sentences for drug dealers.
On a party-line vote, New Hampshire Senate Republicans passed a bill to create a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of transporting any quantity of fentanyl into the state.
They said it's time to raise the stakes for drug traffickers who are fueling deadly addictions.
"People are dying from it, and it's not being made in this state, simple as that," said state Sen. Daryl Abbas, R-Salem. "It's being brought here."
Democrats stood unanimously against the bill, saying that tougher laws won't stop the flow of fentanyl into New Hampshire.
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"I grew up in the '90s," said state Sen. Becky Whitley, D-Hopkinton. "I remember the 'tough on crime,' and it didn't work, right? We continue to have an opioid crisis."
There was some bipartisan agreement on a bill to establish a mandatory minimum 10-year prison sentence for dealing drugs that result in a death.
More Democrats also joined in support of a bill to add a mandatory minimum sentence of three-and-a-half years for possessing 5 grams of fentanyl and a mandatory minimum seven-year sentence for possessing 28 grams of fentanyl, although some objected to the lack of exception for intoxicated or drugged individuals.
"A judge then is prohibited from even considering the fact that somebody in this particular case may not have been mentally competent because of the use of the drug," said state Sen. David Watters, D-Dover. "That's what's being taken away here."
Republican Majority Leader Sharon Carson said the state has spent enough time trying to be soft on fentanyl-related crime, and she believes a more stringent approach is needed.
"We've had the mandatory minimums, but we have moved away from the mandatory minimums, and I would ask all of you what has changed?" Carson said. "Have we seen drug possessions go down? No, we haven't."