A bill passed out of Georgia’s State Senate last week would create mandatory minimum sentences for those trafficking in Fentanyl. If passed by the Georgia House, the Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act could mean up to 35 years in prison and hundreds of thousands in fines for those convicted.
Senate Bill 79 comes on the heels of Austin’s Law, which passed last year to add an involuntary manslaughter charge for anyone selling drugs that lead to a death.
According to the lieutenant governor’s office, more than 55 million pills and nearly 8,000 pounds of fentanyl were seized by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones called fentanyl “the deadliest drug” and said, “Those who traffic this poison should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Too many Georgia families, along with those across the nation, have lost their loved ones to fentanyl and we must do all we can to get this drug off our streets,” Jones added. “I want to thank the families who have shared their stories and ensured that legislation like this is a priority and the loved ones they lost are never forgotten.”
Austin’s Law was named after Austin Walters, a 31-year-old who died from a fentanyl overdose in 2021.
His father, Gus Walters, said that after the law passed, advocates realized that it was insufficient, so SB 79 is needed.
“In order for Austin’s law to work, somebody had to die,” Walters said. “So, it was more of a reactive law. In other words, on the — on the front side, somebody dies and the reaction is, now we can go after the person that sold the pill that killed that individual.”
The Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act now heads to the Georgia House. If passed,
the bill would go into effect on July 1, 2025, and apply to criminal offenses committed on or after that date.
Ellen Eldridge of GPB News contributed to this report
