Imagine someone sells a deadly batch of fentanyl to your neighbor. Your neighbor survives, but barely. Permanent brain damage. A feeding tube for life. The dealer who sold the poison? Under current Michigan law, there’s no specific felony charge for what they did. If the victim had died, prosecutors could throw the book at them. But because the victim survived, the dealer catches a break.

That’s not justice. That’s a loophole.

Recently, the Michigan House voted to close it. House Bills 5157 and 5158 create a new felony offense for delivering a controlled substance that causes serious, life-altering injury. Permanent disfigurement. Significant impairment of health or bodily function. The kind of damage that changes a person’s life forever. I was proud to vote yes.

Right now, our law draws a line that makes no sense. If a dealer’s poison kills someone, they face serious time. If it leaves someone in a wheelchair, with brain damage, or dependent on a ventilator for the rest of their life, prosecutors don’t have the same tools. Victims who survive shouldn’t be worth less in the eyes of the law than those who don’t.

These aren’t hypothetical situations. Fentanyl is flooding into communities across Michigan, and the people pushing it don’t care whether their customers live or die. Our laws need to reflect that reality. Dealers who leave a trail of devastation should face real consequences whether their victims end up in a casket or a hospital bed.

This legislation sends a clear message. If you profit from poisoning people in Michigan, we’re coming after you. The House did its job. Now it’s time for the Senate to act.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out at 517-373-1799 or [email protected].