NH will prosecute overdoses as crimes
Attorney General Joe Foster has announced a partnership with U.S. Attorney Emily Gray Rice to charge drug dealers with murder for overdose deaths.
"Our joint team effort to prosecute those who are criminally responsible for overdose deaths is a critical element of the multi-faceted law enforcement approach needed to combat the drug epidemic in our state," said Rice.
The Attorney General's press release notes, "New Hampshire has the third-highest rate of per capita drug overdose deaths nationwide. Four hundred and thirty-one individuals died from drug overdoses in New Hampshire in 2015."
Opponents argue that decades of the "war on drugs" have proven that increased law enforcement penalties do not decrease drug use. They also note the difficulty of getting a guilty verdict when charging a drug dealer with murder.
Last December the LFDA asked our Facebook community about charging drug dealers with murder. Commenters were split on whether or not prosecution was good policy. Click here to read the results of that discussion, and add your own comments below.
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