Legislation aims to tackle heroin epidemic
With more than 180 Delawareans dying from overdoses in 2015, state legislators have proposed a task force to gather data on drug-related deaths and a new criminal charge against dealers who sell drugs that result in death.
Felton resident Lisa Cerklefskie, who lost her 30-year-old son to a heroin overdose last summer, says new legislation is too late for her son, but she hopes new laws will help others.
“I have no answers,” she said at a Jan. 20 press conference introducing the legislation. “I've had mothers come to me, they're having the same problem, and I wish I could give them the answers. If I did, I would maybe still have my son here.”
House Bill 239, to be known as Brock Cerklefskie's Law, will create a Class B felony classification for drug dealing resulting in death, punishable by 2 to 25 years in jail.
State Rep. Timothy Dukes, R-Laurel, a sponsor, said Jan. 21 the proposed legislation was enacted previously, but was inadvertently removed from state code around 2011.
“They [the Cerklefskie family] came to the justice system for help, and there was no answer,” he said.
Dukes said after Brock's death – just days before his 31st birthday – the Cerklefskie family compiled information from his cell phone records, Facebook page and GPS tracking to pinpoint the dealer suspected with supplying the deadly product. But when they brought that information to police, Dukes said, there was no legislation to go after the drug dealer who supplied Brock with the fentanyl-laced heroin that killed him.
“House Bill 239 was birthed out of pain, out of loss, and ultimately, death,” Dukes said at a Jan. 20 press conference. “This bill could have been named after several people – Ryan, Lauren, Ray, Amy or Rick – all these are names that I'm personally involved with ... There are people who have fallen prey to an addiction and to an epidemic.”
A second measure, sponsored by state Sen. Bethany Hall-Long, D-Middletown, will create a task force to review and evaluate cases where an overdose results in death. Senate Bill 174 would establish a task force that will look at individual cases files as a way to collect data about local overdoses. Because it will review medical records, task force meetings will be closed to the public.
State Sen. Ernie Lopez, R-Lewes, a co-sponsor of the bill, said he expects the task force to have a public report and share some findings within a year of its creation.
“For me, it really comes down to getting the right steps in place to get us where we need to go ...” he said after the press conference. “These conversations weren't happening 2 years ago, 20 years ago. They were happening in closed rooms. They were happening in hushed basements with family members who were too embarrassed to go public with what was happening in their lives.”
Attorney General Matt Denn said state leaders are largely working on theories and assumptions rather than hard facts regarding why heroin overdoses have sharply increased, which is why task force data will be vital to developing effective regulations and sound solutions to curb the increase in overdose fatalities statewide.
Delaware has the ninth highest overdose rate in the United States, and heroin overdose rates nearly tripled between 2009 and 2013, he said.
“To some degree, this drug overdose problem is a national problem, but we do have to ask why Delaware's overdose death rate is so high by national standards,” he said.
In 2015, more than 3,700 Delawareans sought treatment at state-funded facilities for heroin-related treatment, nearly doubling the number of people admitted for heroin in 2002, Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health statistics show.
“Addiction is a vile disease. It does nothing but take from us,” said Michael Barbieri, director of the Delaware Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health. “... We need to start taking back.”
“We have a lot to learn from those precious lives that have been lost,” said Carol Rattay, director of the Delaware Division of Public Health. “We know that we can learn how to strengthen our system and how to make changes to prevent further loss of lives.”
Both pieces of proposed legislation must be reviewed by committees, voted on by the state Senate and state House of Representatives, and sent to the governor before they can become law.
