The dangers of consuming even a tiny amount of fentanyl are now well known. This synthetic opioid is approximately 50 times stronger than heroin. According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, between 2019 and 2022, fentanyl-related overdoses rose by more than 300%.
Oftentimes, the people who die from a fentanyl overdose don’t even realize that they’re ingesting it. They often get it through a single pill like a Xanax that’s been laced with the drug when they buy it from someone on the street. The person selling the drug may not even know that it has fentanyl in it. It may have been laced with fentanyl before it was sold to them.
The potential consequences for knowingly selling someone a drug laced with fentanyl in Georgia became substantially greater last year. The new law allows someone to be charged with aggravated involuntary manslaughter if they sell a drug that contains fentanyl that results in a death if the seller knew that fentanyl was present in the drug. That’s a felony that can carry a prison sentence of anywhere from 10 to 30 years.
“Austin’s Law”
The new law was named “Austin’s Law” after a Georgia man who died in 2021 after taking a single Xanax he bought that was laced with fentanyl. His father noted that under the law at the time, even if the person who sold him the fentanyl-laced Xanax had been apprehended, they wouldn’t have faced “anything more than a misdemeanor.”
While the law, as noted, requires that a person know they’re distributing something laced with fentanyl to face this aggravated involuntary manslaughter charge, it’s certainly possible for a jury not to believe that a person who’s been charged with this offense had no such knowledge.
This new law adds to the already potentially serious consequences of selling any kind of medication – particularly if a seller doesn’t know where it came from and whose hands it’s been in. As Georgia and other states crack down on anyone who sells or otherwise distributes drugs, regardless of the circumstances, it’s more critical than ever to get experienced legal guidance as soon as possible when facing a charge.
