ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Governor Mike Dunleavy recently signed a groundbreaking crime bill into law that holds drug dealers and manufacturers accountable for overdose deaths by charging them with second-degree murder. This legislative move comes as Alaska faces the fastest-rising rate of overdose deaths in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Alaska Department of Health reported a record number of over 340 overdose deaths in 2023. Advocates of the new law argue it will save lives by deterring the distribution of illegal drugs, while critics question its effectiveness.
During the bill signing, Governor Dunleavy emphasized the need for accountability among those who profit from illegal drug distribution. “For anyone to consciously say, we don’t care — the profit motive is all that matters. We don’t care who the victims are. We don’t care how many people die. We don’t care how many kids are impacted. We don’t care about how many accidental poisonings there are — we’re gonna remind them that they better start caring, because if they don’t care, they’re going to be charged with second-degree murder,” Dunleavy declared.
Sandy Snodgrass, whose 22-year-old son Bruce died of a fentanyl overdose in 2021, supported the bill during the signing. She believes the new law will push authorities to take overdose deaths more seriously. “If we had had second-degree murder charges available at the time of my son’s death, they would have been more likely to investigate that because of the higher crime,” Snodgrass said. “So, previous to this law, many times people look at drug overdoses as accidental, and now we look at them as drug-induced homicides.”
However, Meghan Barker from the ACLU of Alaska criticized the punitive approach. She cited research from the U.S. Commission on Combating Synthetic Opioid Trafficking, which suggests that prevention and treatment are more effective strategies. “Things like having rapid investigation and comprehensive mapping of both fatal and non-fatal drug overdoses — we can invest more resources into disrupting the supply chain from transnational criminal organizations that are bringing drugs into the country and then into the state,” Barker said. She also emphasized the need for prevention, treatment, and recovery support for those struggling with substance misuse disorders.
Barker expressed concerns that the new law might strain law enforcement and public defender resources. “These kinds of laws are extremely taxing to law enforcement and put even more pressure on public defender resources, particularly in public defender agencies, where the number of public defenders who have experience with complex felony drug cases are pretty limited,” she noted. Additionally, she warned that the law might disproportionately affect individuals struggling with addiction rather than targeting high-level drug dealers.
In contrast, Snodgrass argued that the law would incentivize street-level dealers to provide information on higher-level dealers. “This law is not directed to street-level dealers; street-level dealers are very unlikely to go to prison for second-degree murder,” Snodgrass said. “What it will do is incentivize them to turn over their higher-level drug dealers to reach the people that are purely driven by money.”
Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor acknowledged that while the new law is a significant step, more efforts are needed to tackle the overdose crisis, including addressing mental health issues. “This is simply one facet that we’re able to improve today, that’ll help make Alaska safer,” Taylor stated.