A recent Washington Post article (05/08/2016) describes how some states are prosecuting dealers when there is a fatal overdose from drugs they sold.
Highlights from the article:
“Prosecutors in New Jersey, Tennessee, West Virginia and Louisiana have recently dusted off dormant War on Drugs-era laws to subject sellers and providers to homicide charges and stiff sentences on par with convictions for shooting, beating or poisoning people to death.”
“In New York, Ohio and Virginia, lawmakers have introduce bills to allow murder charges to be filed in drug-overdose deaths.”
“In New Hampshire, the attorney general is partnering with federal prosecutors to investigate all opiate-overdose deaths as crimes instead of accidental deaths.”
In Pennsylvania, where the exasperated Lycoming County coroner announced in March that he would begin categorizing heroin-overdose deaths as homicides on death certificates, the federal government also has begun ratcheting up penalties for even low-level dealers whose products cause bodily harm or death.”