RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Republican bill to charge drug dealers with felony murder has failed in the state Senate’s Courts of Justice Committee.
Eight Democrats voted to pass the bill by indefinitely. Six Republicans and Sen. Russet Perry, D-Loudoun, objected.
The bill, sponsored by Republican Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougle, R-Hanover, would have charged anyone who manufactures or sells a Schedule I or II controlled substance — including fentanyl — with second degree murder, punishable by 5 to 40 years in prison.
“We have been averaging the last number of years over 2500 deaths in Virginia,” McDougle said before the committee. “Those deaths are more than car accidents and gun deaths combined”
This additional 5 to 40 year punishment would have been on top of the already-present 5 to 40 year punishment for distributing the drugs.
Sen. Jennifer Boysko, D-Fairfax, said history shows increased penalties won’t get drugs off the street.
“If we go back to the 80s and being tough on crime — that didn’t end up helping people get off drugs, [or] save people,” Boysko said. “It just put a bunch of people in prison. It didn’t solve the problem.”
Similar measures have been filed in the House of Delegates, but with Democrats in charge of both chambers, it’s possible they’ll fail as well.
