West Virginia lawmakers are poised to create two new criminal penalties for exposing cops and first responders to contact with fentanyl, a danger that has been largely exaggerated and does not actually exist.
On Monday, West Virginia's state House, by a vote of 94–2, passed H.B. 2184 and sent it to the state's senators for review. The bill creates a new misdemeanor crime for anybody who possesses fentanyl and exposes a government official, health care worker, police or correctional officer, utility worker, or emergency responder to it. The penalty for exposing these workers to fentanyl is a maximum fine of $500 and up to one year in jail.
