(Atlantic) Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is signing several bills on tour across the state this week, enacting laws dealing with fentanyl and other issues. The Governor signed Senate File 595 into law this (Tuesday) morning following a roundtable discussion in Atlantic. Reynolds explained the bill elevates penalties for manufacturing and selling fentanyl and increases access to drugs like naloxone, which can stop an overdose’s adverse effects.
Reynolds says, among other things, they discussed how they could help other communities replicate their success and help bring awareness to what is infiltrating the state.
Governor Reynolds says that although Iowa maintains the country’s lowest death rates, we are still experiencing unacceptable trends. Between 2019-2022, Iowa saw a 25-percent increase in opioid deaths, including a devastating 160-percent increase for those victims under the age of 25. The Governor said in 2022, law enforcement seized six times more fentanyl pills than in 2021. She says the Division of Narcotics Enforcement seized 27,650 fentanyl pills in the last six weeks.
The Governor stated President Biden has a constitutional responsibility to secure the nation’s border from illegal immigration, drug, and human trafficking, and everything taking place at the border.
The Governor says in addition to increasing sentences, the bill also holds those people accountable who lace counterfeit pills with small but deadly doses by lowering the wait threshold to begin and making life-saving treatments more readily available.
