Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed a handful of bills aimed at combating the fentanyl crisis in Texas, including a measure allowing prosecutors to charge someone...
. Abbott also announced that the Texas Division of Emergency Management will distribute 20,000 units of Narcan to all Texas sheriffs in Texas’ 254 counties., an organization that raises awareness on the dangers of taking the synthetic opiate, sat next to Abbott, as he signed all the bills. Her son’s face was tattooed on her right shoulder. Tucker Roe died after taking a Percocet pill he didn’t know was laced with fentanyl. He was 19.
Overdose deaths have impacted several K-12 schools and students across Texas — and the country — leaving lawmakers scrambling to find ways to tackle the crises. Fentanyl is the leading cause of death for Americans 18-49, according to anA quantity of fentanyl small enough to fit on the tip of a sharpened pencil can kill.
Rep. Craig Goldman, R-Fort Worth, authored House Bill 6 and spent several months listening to families who lost loved ones unexpectedly. “You’re lucky if you haven’t been affected by it,” Goldman said Wednesday. “It’s a horrific, horrific problem that hopefully the legislation prevents more deaths, but we also have to do a better job at educating.”
Some experts, advocates and other lawmakers, however, disagreed with the tough-on-crime approach the GOP-led legislature took to try and curb overdoses.Among the criticisms was that the bill could actually do harm because loved ones or friends might be afraid to call the authorities during an emergency — for fear of being charged. Health policy experts also say there’s not a solid body of evidence that laws increasing criminal penalties slow the sale of drugs.
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