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Prescription Drugs falling out of a sideways bottle

Ohio Senate OKs Bill Targeting Fentanyl-Laced Street Drugs

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – A proposal targeting drug dealers in Ohio who traffic in products laced with the opioid fentanyl has cleared the state Senate.

The bill defines microscopic amounts of the dangerous painkiller, when not contained in authorized pharmaceutical form, as enough to trigger a drug offense under Ohio law.

The legislation cleared the chamber 25-2 in Thursday. It heads next to the House.

Under the proposal, providing someone with five milligrams or more of fentanyl or a gram or more of any substance containing fentanyl would constitute dealing in bulk under Ohio drug laws.

The measure comes as heroin, pills and marijuana laced with fentanyl are contributing to an epidemic of drug-related overdoses and deaths across Ohio and the U.S.