Pennsylvania House passes bill banning "gas station heroin"

[00:00:00]Today, the State House passed a bill that would make what's known as gas station heroin illegal in Pennsylvania.

[00:00:06]The FDA says the substance has been linked to hundreds of overdose deaths around the country, including one overdose death in Fayette County in April. I found out why two lawmakers don't support the bill.

[00:00:17]Tianeptine, better known as gas station heroin, is a highly addictive opioid-like drug not regulated by the FDA.

[00:00:24]>> Although it's not approved by the FDA for any medical use, it's being sold in stores and online, putting Pennsylvanians at risk.

[00:00:32]>> House Bill 377 would prohibit the manufacture, delivery, or possession of the drug with intent to manufacture or deliver. The bill would make it a felony with up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to $15,000.

[00:00:45]In April, the Fayette County Coroner reported the county's first accidental overdose death due to tianeptine.

[00:00:50]>> In his public statement, he warned that this highly addictive substance can cause severe withdrawal symptoms, respiratory depression, seizures, and death. He urged lawmakers to act before this problem problem grows into an epidemic.

[00:01:05]>> State Representative Charity Grimm Krupa of Fayette County is a co-sponsor of the bill. She spoke on the House floor urging all members to vote for it.

[00:01:13]>> Members, this is not a partisan issue.

[00:01:15]Protecting our communities and saving lives should unite us all.

[00:01:20]>> Two Democratic representatives serving Allegheny County were the only ones to vote no, including Representative Emily Kinkead. She tells me she thinks prohibiting tianeptine from being sold or distributed will help, but she thinks criminalizing people for possessing it does not help.

[00:01:34]>> The Drug Control Act is very much a sledgehammer and not a chisel, and we know that criminalizing substance use disorder is is not effective in actually treating it. And the Drug Control Act the mere possession of a controlled substance that's covered under the act is a felony, and it's up to 5 years in prison. and we know we know that that does not work to address drug issues in our community.

[00:02:03]>> Her hope is that they can tackle controlled substances with a more nuanced approach.

[00:02:07]>> So I think that we need to go back to the mere possession portion of the Drug Control Act and and actually, you know, lighten that sentence and and address that piece of it so that we can be treating substance use disorder the way that it should be treated which is a health problem and not a criminal problem.

[00:02:31]>> The bill now goes to the state Senate.