It’s a good sign that lawmakers and law enforcement around the country have started to take note of the abnormally high numbers of heroin deaths taking place in the country. Earlier this month, the Ohio Attorney General formed a special task force after gathering reports from coroners from all over the state. And now, in New Jersey, a new law to crack down on heroin dealers seems to be finding bipartisan support.
The proposed new law in New Jersey would allow prosecutors to ask for sentences of 10 years or more in cases where drug dealers are caught with large amounts of pure heroin.
The law would prescribe sentences according to the nature and amount of drug a dealer is caught with. This would be changing things from the prior status where prosecutors could ask for sentences based only on the weight of the drugs and not its quality.
In one of the more sobering provisions, dealers caught with more than an ounce of pure, uncut heroin may face 10 years without parole.
In a joint statement, the proponents of the bill said, “The increasing number of deaths linked to heroin illustrates, in the grimmest and most alarming manner possible, the absolutely pressing need to strengthen statutory penalties for drug dealers, especially those involved in large-scale drug trafficking operations.”
The bill has been proposed by the southern Ocean County delegation and designed with the help of Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato. The sponsors include Senator Christopher J. Connors, Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf and Assemblywoman DiAnne C. Gove (all R-Ocean), and a bipartisan group of co-sponsors saw the bill advanced by the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Monday.