Bill to ban "gas station heroin" passes Pennsylvania House
The state House passed a bill on Tuesday that would make "gas station heroin" illegal in Pennsylvania. Officials say it is a dangerous and highly addictive substance popping up across the country.
Tianeptine is a highly addictive opioid-like drug not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA says the substance has been linked to hundreds of overdoses and deaths, including one overdose death in Fayette County in April.
"Although it's not approved by the FDA for any medical use, it's being sold in stores and online, putting Pennsylvanians at risk," said state Rep. Charity Grimm Krupa on the House floor before the vote.
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 five years in prison or a fine of up to $15,000.
In April, the Fayette County coroner reported Fayette County's first accidental overdose death due to tianeptine.
"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 grows into an epidemic," Rep. Krupa said.
Rep. Krupa is a co-sponsor of the bill. She spoke on the House floor, urging all members to vote for it.
"Members, this is not a partisan issue. Protecting our communities and saving lives should unite us all," Rep. Krupa said.
Two Democratic representatives serving Allegheny County, including Rep. Emily Kinkead, were the only ones to vote against the bill. She said she thinks prohibiting tianeptine from being sold or distributed will help, but she thinks criminalizing people for possessing it does not help.
"The Drug Control Act is very much a sledgehammer and not a chisel, and we know that criminalizing substance use disorder is not effective in actually treating it," Kinkead said. "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 five years in prison. And we know that does not work to address drug issues in our communities."
She hopes that lawmakers can tackle controlled substances with a more nuanced approach.
"We need to go back to the mere possession portion of the Drug Control Act and actually lighten that sentence 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," said Kinkead.
The bill now heads to the state Senate.
