BILL NUMBER: S5910

SPONSOR: AKSHAR
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the penal law, in relation to enacting "Laree's law"

 
PURPOSE:

Establishes the crime of homicide by sale of an opiate controlled
substance.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill provides that the short title of this act shall be
"Laree's Law."

Section 2 adds a new subdivision 21 to Section 220.00 of the penal law
provides the definition of an opiate controlled substance.

Section 3 adds a new section 125.24 to the penal law establishing the
              

crime of homicide by sale of an opiate controlled substance and making
it a class A-1 felony.

Section 4: Establishes the effective date of ninety days after it
becomes law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Every community in New York State has been touched by the opioid crisis.
The losses and impacts due to the crisis have profoundly affected indi-
viduals, families, neighborhoods, small towns, and large cities across
the State and the Nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC), 115 Americans die every day from opioid overdose.
Since 1999, the CDC estimates over 350,000 people have died from an
opioid overdose; many of those individuals were New Yorkers.

This legislation targets drug dealers who sell drugs to individuals who
die as a result of overdosing on the drugs. Currently, a person who
provides illicit drugs that result in the death of a user can be charged
only with criminal sale of a controlled substance, allowing those
involved in the illicit drug trade to escape prosecution for the deaths
caused by their actions.

This proposed law would hold drug dealers accountable for the true
consequences of their activities and help reduce the availability of
these dangerous drugs on our streets. It would give district attorneys a
tool to pursue the criminals who are responsible for supplying deadly
drugs. Facing the possibility of life imprisonment for selling drugs
would be a powerful disincentive to engaging in illegal drug sales.
This proposal is designed to punish those individuals involved in the
illegal drug trade. It is not intended to punish those individuals who
may jointly and simultaneously acquire and possess illegal drugs for
joint use with someone who dies of an overdose. Someone who shares the
drugs with the victim would still have an incentive to follow the
current Good Samaritan law, and try to save someone who overdoses.

The proposed act is named in memory of Laree Farrell Lincoln, an Albany
County teenager who died of a heroin overdose in 2013 and whose late
mother, Patty Farrell, had been a strong advocate for holding drug deal-
ers accountable for the true cost of their crimes.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2020:S.4726 Amedore Referred to Codes

2019:S.4726 Amedore  Referred to Codes

2018:S.2761 Amedore -Passed Senate

2017:S.2761 Amedore -Passed Senate

2016:S.4163 Amedore -Passed Senate

2015:S.4163 Amedore -Passed Senate

2014:S.7657 Amedore -Passed Senate

2013:S.7657 Amedore -Passed Senate.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law.