Sen. Sue Rezin backs tougher penalties for those who sell drugs with fentanyl

Senate Deputy Leader Sue Rezin (R-Morris), along with other lawmakers, unveiled legislation Tuesday that creates two new offenses and penalties for individuals who intentionally sell scheduled drugs with fentanyl or electronic communication devices to sell fentanyl.

Senate Bill 4221 would amend the manufacture and delivery offense within the Illinois Controlled Substances Act to create a new Class X felony requiring nine to 40 years in prison for unlawfully selling or dispensing any scheduled drug, like Adderall or Vicodin, that contains a detectable amount of fentanyl.

Rezin was joined by Sen. Sally Turner (R-Beason) and McLean County State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds at the State Capitol for a press conference.

“Nationally, nearly 70,000 people 18 and older died in 2021 from synthetic opioid-related incidents, with 90% of those being fentanyl-related,” Rezin said. “That is equivalent to one plane crashing each and every day.

“In Illinois, we have seen the number of synthetic opioid deaths jump from 87 in 2013 to 2,672 in 2021. That means in less than one decade, the state of Illinois saw nearly a 3,000% increase in synthetic opioid overdose deaths. We cannot and should not continue to turn a blind eye to this staggering trend.”

Additionally, Senate Bill 4221 would expand the controlled substance trafficking offense to create a new Class 1 felony, which would come with a fine up to $100,000 for anyone using an electronic communications device in the furtherance of controlled substance trafficking involving a substance containing any amount of fentanyl.

This poison is killing people in our communities, and those who knowingly spread that poison should face harsher penalties,” Reynolds said.

Rezin and Turner hope to see this legislation move through the legislative process this veto session, the lawmakers said.