Includes exposing another person to fentanyl, a fentanyl derivative or an opiate containing fentanyl or a fentanyl derivative by any means including throwing or tossing at or injecting such other person with any such substance in the definition of the offense of assault in the first degree.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4330
SPONSOR: Buttenschon TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the penal law, in relation to including exposing another
person to fentanyl, fentanyl derivatives or opiates containing fentanyl
or fentanyl derivatives in the definition of the offense of assault in
the first degree
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
To include exposing another person to fentanyl an offense of assault in
the first degree
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 120.10 of the penal law. Section 2 establishes
the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than
heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Fentanyl is being mixed in
with other illicit drugs to increase the potency of the drug, sold as
powders and nasal sprays, and increasingly pressed into pills made to
look like legitimate prescription opioids. Because there is no official
oversight or quality control, these counterfeit pills often contain
lethal doses of fentanyl, with none of the promised drug. Because of
its potency and low cost, drug dealers have been mixing fentanyl with
other drugs including heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, increasing
the likelihood of a fatal interaction. Producing illicit fentanyl is not
an exact science. Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on
a person's body size, tolerance and past usage. DEA analysis has found
counterfeit pills ranging from .02 to 5.1 milligrams (more than twice
the lethal dose) of fentanyl per tablet. Between 2019 and 2020, the
overdose death rate involving synthetic opioids like fentanyl jumped
from a rate of 12% to 19%. It is imperative that we hold the people who
are exposing individuals to this heinous drug accountable. This legis-
lation will ensure that those who are knowingly exposing another to
fentanyl will be facing a charge of assault in the first degree.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-2024: A.8060 - Referred to codes
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect on the first of November next succeeding the
date upon which it shall have become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4330
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 4, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BUTTENSCHON -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Codes
AN ACT to amend the penal law, in relation to including exposing another
person to fentanyl, fentanyl derivatives or opiates containing fenta-
nyl or fentanyl derivatives in the definition of the offense of
assault in the first degree
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 120.10 of the penal law, subdivision 4 as amended
2 by chapter 791 of the laws of 1967 and the closing paragraph as amended
3 by chapter 646 of the laws of 1996, is amended to read as follows:
4 § 120.10 Assault in the first degree.
5 A person is guilty of assault in the first degree when:
6 1. With intent to cause serious physical injury to another person,
7 [he] such person causes such injury to such other person or to a third
8 person by means of a deadly weapon or a dangerous instrument; or
9 2. With intent to disfigure another person seriously and permanently,
10 or to destroy, amputate or disable permanently a member or organ of
11 [his] such other person's body, [he] such person causes such injury to
12 such other person or to a third person; or
13 3. Under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life,
14 [he] such person recklessly engages in conduct which creates a grave
15 risk of death to another person, and thereby causes serious physical
16 injury to another person; or
17 4. In the course of and in furtherance of the commission or attempted
18 commission of a felony or of immediate flight therefrom, [he] such
19 person, or another participant if there be any, causes serious physical
20 injury to a person other than one of the participants; or
21 5. With intent to cause serious physical injury to another person,
22 such person causes such injury to such other person by exposing such
23 other person to fentanyl, a fentanyl derivative or an opiate containing
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07451-01-5
A. 4330 2
1 fentanyl or a fentanyl derivative by any means, including, but not
2 limited to, throwing or tossing at or injecting such other person with
3 any such substance.
4 Assault in the first degree is a class B felony.
5 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of November next succeed-
6 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law and shall apply to
7 offenses committed on or after such effective date. Effective immediate-
8 ly, the addition, amendment, and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
9 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
10 authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
