Lawmakers struggle to solve fentanyl crisis as drug debate rages on

Wash. — It’s dangerous. It’s deadly. And it’s harming dozens of children each year in our state.

Fentanyl is a crisis that lawmakers and law enforcement are struggling to solve  — and struggling to prosecute.

“Under our Washington state law, it is a felony to have the substance of meth be exposed to children.” Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison says “And it specifically says ‘methamphetamine.”

“But it does not include other substances, for example, fentanyl, that is not listed as a felony,” she said.

It’s a legal loophole that goes back 22 years to the height of the meth crisis. During this, Washington lawmakers determined that child endangerment of a controlled substance is defined as exposure to ‘methamphetamines’.

Davison is urging lawmakers to amend that law to include fentanyl.

“I feel strongly that we need to be keeping up with current times, and current times show us that fentanyl is so deadly,” said Davison. “Our number of overdoses in King County are skyrocketing.”

“And by not classifying this as a felony, we are endangering them and putting them at risk,” she continued.

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