BILL NUMBER: S7203

SPONSOR: ROLISON
 
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
1.411t"

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

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Heroin use is steadily on the rise. Its impact now reaches every aspect
of our society regardless of income, education or genders. The increas-
ing availability of this drug, combined with more powerful incarnations,
is creating an epidemic that is having a dramatic impact across the
state and leading to the unfortunate death of too many New Yorkers.
Currently, a person who provides an illicit drug that results in the
death of a user can typically only be charged 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 law would hold drug dealers accountable for the true cost of their
activities, significantly diminish the open availability of these
dangerous drugs on our streets and give district attorneys the necessary
tools to work up the criminal chain to the ultimate supplier because
facing life imprisonment for any amount of drugs that results in death
is a profound disincentive to sell drugs within the state of New York.

This law seeks to punish those individuals involved in the illegal drug,
trade and is not intended to punish those individuals who are merely
co-users. Therefore, a co-user who shares the drugs with the victim
:Still has an incentive to follow the current good Samaritan law and
save the other person as he or she will be able to avoid prosecution for
homicide by sale of an opiate controlled substance and instead admit to
a lower felony because it still is a distribution.

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:
2022: S.5910 Akshar - Referred to Codes

2021: S.5910 Akshar - Referred to Codes

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.