Referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
H.R. 780 modifies federal drug trafficking laws to strengthen prosecutions in cases where drug sales result in death. The bill allows courts to charge someone convicted of distributing fentanyl or fentanyl analogues—particularly when death occurs—with homicide under federal law. When a person is convicted of such a drug offense involving a death, the court must provide a specific advisory statement warning them about the dangers of fentanyl and the potential for future homicide charges if they continue dealing drugs that cause deaths. The legislation also allows evidence of a prior drug conviction involving a fentanyl-related death to be used in subsequent federal homicide prosecutions to demonstrate the defendant's knowledge that the substance contained fentanyl, and permits similar statements from state courts to be admitted in federal proceedings. The bill does not include new funding and applies immediately upon enactment, with an exception protecting individuals who were minors when they committed the original offense.
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