HCSHBs2576&1433--TRAFFICKINGOFDRUGS
SPONSOR: Casteel
COMMITTEEACTION:Voted"DoPasswithHCS"bytheStanding
CommitteeonCrimePreventionandPublicSafetybyavoteof18to
3and1votingPresent.
ThefollowingisasummaryoftheHouseCommitteeSubstituteforHB
2576.
Thisbillamendstheoffensesofdrugtraffickinginthefirst
degreeanddrugtraffickingintheseconddegree.
Currently,traffickingdrugsinthefirstdegreeisaclassB
felonyifthepersonknowinglydistributes,delivers,manufactures,
orproduces,orattemptstodistribute,deliver,manufacture,or
producemorethan10milligramsoffentanyl. ItisaclassA
felonyiftheamountis20milligramsormore.
TraffickingdrugsintheseconddegreeisaclassCfelonyifthe
personknowinglypossessesorhasunderhisorhercontrol,
purchasesorattemptstopurchase,orbringsintothisStatemore
than10milligramsoffentanyl,andisaclassBfelonyifthe
amountis20milligramsormore.
Thisbillamendsthequantitiesoffentanylfortheoffenseof
traffickingofdrugs,inthefirstandseconddegree,asfollows:
(1)DrugtraffickinginthefirstdegreeisaclassBfelonyfor
morethanthreebutlessthan14milligramsoffentanyl;
(2)DrugtraffickinginthefirstdegreeisaclassAfelonyfor
morethan14milligramsoffentanyl;
(3)DrugtraffickingintheseconddegreeisaclassCfelonyfor
morethanthreebutlessthan14milligramsoffentanyl;
(4)DrugtraffickingintheseconddegreeisaclassBfelonyfor
morethan14milligramsoffentanyl.
Undertheoffenseoftraffickingdrugsinthefirstdegree,
traffickinganyamountofcarfentanilupto.05milligramsisa
classBfelony,andtraffickingmorethan.05milligramsisaclass
Afelony.Undertheoffenseoftraffickingdrugsinthesecond
degree,traffickinganyamountofcarfentanilupto.05milligrams
isaclassCfelony,andtraffickingmorethan.05milligramsisa
classBfelony. Thefollowingisasummaryofthepublictestimonyfromthe
committeehearing. Thetestimonywasbasedontheintroduced
versionofthebill.
PROPONENTS: Supporterssaythatfentanylisapowerfulopioidand
itcanbe50timesstrongerthanheroinand100timesstrongerthan
morphine. It’sinvolvedinfouroutoffive“GenZ”deaths.In
theUS,in2021therewere106,000deathsand70,000involved
fentanyl. Teenoverdosedeathsinvolvingopioidshavetripled.
Illicitfentanylandfakeprescriptiondeathsarerisinginthe
KansasCitycommunity. Thebillalsocarvesoutcarfentanil
becauseitis100timesmorepotentthanfentanyland10,000times
morepotentthanmorphine. Alotofthecomponentsoffentanylare
shippedfromChinaandtheyaremadebycartels.
TestifyinginpersonforthebillwereRepresentative Casteel;and
LockeThompson,MissouriAssociationofProsecutingAttorneys.
OPPONENTS: Therewasnooppositionvoicedtothecommittee.
Writtentestimonyhasbeensubmittedforthisbill.Thefull
writtentestimonyandwitnessestestifyingonlinecanbefound
underTestimonyonthebillpageontheHousewebsite.