After overdose deaths claimed a 15-year-old girl in Semmes and a 21-year-old man in Theodore, two Mobile-area state representatives are pushing separate bills aimed at punishing those who distribute fentanyl in Alabama.
State Reps. Chris Pringle and Matt Simpson have each drafted legislation targeting the deadly synthetic opioid, which has been turning up in more of the illegal drug supply across the Gulf Coast.
Two Different Approaches
Pringle’s bill takes the broader approach, applying to any drugs that cause a fatal overdose. “If you’re selling drugs, and you cause somebody’s death, you will be charged with manslaughter,” Pringle said.
Simpson’s bill zeroes in on fentanyl trafficking itself. It would increase prison sentences based on the quantity being trafficked, while aiming squarely at distributors rather than ordinary users who may not know their drugs are laced with the opioid.
According to both lawmakers, Alabama currently imposes mandatory prison sentences for heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana trafficking — but not for fentanyl. Their bills would close that gap.
Simpson stressed how little of the drug it takes to be lethal, holding up a sugar packet for scale: one gram, he said, could contain enough fentanyl to kill 500 people, since just two milligrams is a lethal dose.
Support From Prevention Advocates
Virginia Guy, executive director of the Drug Education Council, called Alabama’s overdose deaths a huge problem and said the legislation is an important first step, though she emphasized that more work remains on the demand side.
“I support and applaud our lawmakers for doing everything they can to keep our communities safe,” Guy said. She also warned that virtually all street drugs — pills, vapes, marijuana — now carry the potential to contain fentanyl.
The two bills move independently, so offenders could ultimately face stacked charges: trafficking time under Simpson’s bill, and a manslaughter charge under Pringle’s if a sale proves fatal. Both were set to be introduced when the Legislature convened in Montgomery in March.