HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Senate took steps Tuesday to enact separate legislation that would ban safe injection sites for drug use and institute a 10-year mandatory minimum sentence for anyone who sells fentanyl that results in a fatal overdose.
Sen. Christine Tartaglione, D-Philadelphia, introduced Senate Bill 347 to ban safe injection sites across Pennsylvania. It advanced out of the House Judiciary Committee on a 10-4 vote with one Democrat joining all Republicans on the committee in support.
The measure moved closer to a vote of the full Senate.
Tartaglione’s district includes the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, the most notorious open-air drug market in the country.
Safe injection sites are considered a harm reduction initiative by supporters. In concept, users ingest drugs in a clean space, are supplied clean kits for ingestion, are monitored for potential overdose, and are offered, on request, help to find addiction treatment. Opponents see the venues as an attempt at an illegal workaround that enables addiction.
Safe injection sites are illegal under federal law, however, two operate in New York City as “overdose prevention centers.”
Tartaglione’s bill would expressly ban safe injection sites and extend authority both to county district attorneys and the state attorney general’s office to investigate and file felony criminal charges that carry up to 20 years in prison, maximum fines of $500,000 for an individual and $2 million for an organization, and a civil penalty of $250,000.
Tartaglione stressed that her proposed legislation wouldn’t impact the legality and operation of clean needle exchange programs and related harm reduction measures.
At the invite of fellow Democratic state Sen. Nikil Saval, also of Philadelphia, Tartaglione visited one of two safe injection sites in New York City. Tartaglione, herself in recovery from alcoholism for nearly 22 years, said the well-intentioned visit only solidified her perspective.
“What I saw inside amounted to what essentially was a day care for adults,” Tartaglione said. “I believe the only way we’re going to get out of this epidemic is through long-term treatment.”
“What they fundamentally do is keep people alive so that they can get into treatment,” Saval later said in support of the concept.
Separately, a 10-4 vote by committee members advanced Senate Bill 92. One Democrat joined Republicans in support.
The measure was reintroduced by Sen. Doug Mastriano, R-Adams/Franklin. Cosponsors include Sen. Wayne Langerholc, Sen. Michele Brooks and Sen. Elder Vogel.
The bill is named “Tyler’s Law” in memory of the late Tyler Shanafelter who died of a fentanyl overdose in 2020 after ingesting counterfeit pills he believed to be prescription Percocet. Shanafelter’s mother, Laura, attended the committee meeting to advocate in support of the proposal.
The bill calls for a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a minimum $15,000 fine for anyone who sells fentanyl, or accepts something of value in trade, that leads to a fatal overdose. The intent is to target dealers. The penalty wouldn’t apply, according to the bill, to those who shared the drug or who used the drug together, for example.
“Typically, I’m not a fan of mandatory minimums but this fentanyl scourge has killed so many Americans, it’s caused irreparable harm to so many young people and so many families,” Sen. Camera Bartolotta, R-Beaver/Greene/Washington, said.
Mastriano first sought a 25-year mandatory minimum prison sentence when introducing the measure in the last legislative session. It was eventually amended to 10 years and advanced to the House but stalled. His latest attempt at the bill retained the 10-year minimum language.
In another move, committee members voted unanimously to advance Senate Bill 475 from Sen. Amanda Cappelletti, D-Delaware/Montgomery.
The bill proposes to rename “problem-solving courts” as “treatment courts” in state law. It would impact veterans courts, drug courts, mental health courts, DUI courts and similar specialized programs to better coordinate resources provided by the state Supreme Court, according to the bill’s cosponsorship memo.