ODESSA, Texas — Legislation co-authored by State Representative Brooks Landgraf and filed by State Representative Craig Goldman to combat the fentanyl crisis is already having a big local impact less than two months after becoming state law.
House Bill 6 was passed by the legislature earlier this year and went into effect Sept. 1. The bill increased penalties for manufacturing and distributing fentanyl, allowing fentanyl dealers to be charged with murder in certain circumstances.
“Every lawmaker in the state of Texas has lost a constituent to fentanyl poisoning,” Landgraf said. “It is heartbreaking to open up the paper and see another young face that has passed away as a result of this deadly substance. No parent should have to bury their child.”
As we reported, on Saturday the Odessa Police Department arrested 18-year-old Nathaniel Martinez on suspicion of murder after officers discovered he sold pills containing fentanyl to a 16-year-old, who later died from fentanyl poisoning shortly after purchasing the pills.
House Bill 6 increased the penalty for manufacturing or delivering less than one gram of fentanyl to a third-degree felony, raising the penalty to a murder if a death occurs. The bill also defines unlawful possession with intent to deliver such a substance as organized activity to give law enforcement and prosecutors more tools to combat the crime.
“I’m grateful to the Odessa police officials who made this arrest, the prosecutors who filed the murder charge, and the medical examiners for their thankless work,” Landgraf concluded.
Fentanyl-related deaths reported in Texas increased 89% from 2020 to 2021. Since March 2021, as part of Operation Lone Star, Texas DPS has seized more than 434 million lethal doses of fentanyl across the state.
In addition to coauthoring House Bill 6, Landgraf has worked to increase funding for border security in each of the last two legislative sessions.
To find out more about Martinez's arrest, click here.