Kane County Reporter

State Rep. Keith Wheeler (R-IL) is co-sponsoring a bill that aims to address the fentanyl crisis. 

In a Facebook post Sept. 23, Wheeler shared an article by Central Illinois Proud, announcing the introduction of the bill to curb fentanyl overdose-related deaths. 

“We need to be proactive to fight the rising number of fentanyl-related deaths in Illinois,” Wheeler wrote in his Facebook post. “Yesterday I joined two colleagues to introduce House Bill 5808, new legislation to crack down on fentanyl trafficking and the drug dealers who target our kids and young adults

Introduced by Rep. Deanne Mazzochi alongside Wheeler and other House Republican colleagues, HB 58080, aims to address the fentanyl crisis in Illinois, according to the General Assembly website. The bill would amend the Illinois Controlled Substances Act to increase the penalties associated with manufacturing, possessing, and intending to distribute fentanyl; add the new offense of "fentanyl trafficking" into the criminal code and establish sentencing minimums.

This comes as 2,944 Illinoisans died from opioid overdoses in 2020—a 33% increase from 2019, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH). Of all the drug overdose deaths in 2020, 83% involved synthetic opioids. Synthetic opioid overdose deaths increased by 2,736% from 2013 to 2020. Opioids killed more than twice as many Illinoisans as car crashes in 2020.

Depending on a person's body size and drug tolerance, as little as two milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). 

Because Fentanyl is cheap to produce and high in potency, many drug traffickers mix it in with other drugs, the DEA reports, stating that agents have found the synthetic opioid in basically every street drug, as well as in counterfeit prescription pills. 

Mexican cartels can purchase the raw chemicals from China, produce fentanyl cheaply, and then mix it in with other drugs which are then trafficked into the U.S.