Parents on different sides of a bill to penalize drug dealers involved in overdose deaths in Maryland shared one thing in common: Their grief.
During their testimony in Annapolis on Tuesday, there were long pauses, catches in voices and a box of tissues passed back and forth at the witness table in the hearing room before the Judiciary Committee.
Jackie Long, from Baltimore County, recalled her last vacation with her son Ryan, and then recounted the day her son and his girlfriend were found after an overdose.
“Her mother found them not breathing, called 911, but they were gone!” she shouted.
Long told lawmakers at the hearing: “That dealer that poisoned my son and his girlfriend to death was — and maybe still is — out there!”
April Babcock, also from Baltimore County, told lawmakers that her son Austen “will always be forever 25.”
Scott D. Broadfoot Sr. tearfully pointed to the image on his T-shirt and said, “This is my son, Scottie,” and explained that his 21-year-old son died of an overdose in 2019.
They all came to testify in favor of House Bill 1398, which would make it a felony to distribute heroin, fentanyl or any chemical analogue of either drug which leads to a fatal overdose or serious bodily harm. The bill calls for a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years.
Toni Torsch, whose son Dan died of a heroin overdose 10 years ago, told the panel in Annapolis, “I sat on the other side 10 years ago in support of that type of bill. I was filled with anger, with pain, and I wanted to hold someone accountable.”
But now, Torsch said, she believes that the bill won’t accomplish the goal of preventing drug overdose deaths.
Also testifying in opposition to the bill, Dan Rabbitt, policy director at Behavioral Health System Baltimore, told lawmakers, “There is absolutely no evidence that this is going to prevent (overdoses).”
Rabbitt said 24 other states have similar laws and insisted that there’s no evidence that the rate of overdoses have been affected as a result.
Montgomery County’s Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Earl Stoddard testified in favor of the bill, telling lawmakers that it strikes a balance between prosecuting those who sell heroin or fentanyl that leads to fatal overdoses and protecting those who either call 911 or administer the overdose reversal drug Narcan to try to save a life when an overdose does occur.
“Beyond addressing those in need of support, we must also address those who seek to take advantage of and often, too often, kill those who suffer from fentanyl addiction,” Stoddard said.
Before concluding his own testimony before lawmakers, Broadfoot Sr. sought to emphasize that everyone testifying on the bill had one goal in mind: Saving lives and preventing the tragedy that so many families have already suffered.
“This isn’t a red or blue issue,” he said, his voice faltering. “This is a red, white, and blue issue. We must stand together.”
A similar bill, SB604, was heard before the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee last week.
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