However, one sheriff wants to rewrite the law to target drug dealers even further.

Seminole County Sheriff Dennis Lemma has made taking drug dealers off the streets one of his top priorities, have already charged 35 suspected drug dealers with murder under that law.

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Now, he wants to go a step further, pushing for drug dealers to be punished even if their buyer survives a fentanyl overdose.

“We wanted to add in there, which is incredibly important, is to hold the drug dealers accountable,” Lemma said. “But as our community and policing organizations -- all public safety for that matter -- are becoming more accustomed to reviving people with the use of Narcan naloxone. In many regards, it’s saving the drug dealer from criminal prosecution. So what we wanted to do is take these fentanyl poisoning cases and make sure that we had a law on the books.”

The charge would be culpable negligence, a second-degree felony that would put drug dealers away for up to five years.

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Fentanyl was created as a pain killer for people with traumatic injuries. In the last decade, it has made its way onto the black market, killing thousands each year.

While the CDC doesn’t have specific data for fentanyl deaths, some studies suggest it is now the top cause of death in the U.S. for people 18-45, surpassing COVID-19, suicide and car accidents, with more than 150 people dying each day.

“We have a mess on our hands, and we need to do all that we can to leverage our laws and our systems to hold the people that are responsible, most accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” Lemma said.

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