Longview City Council Votes for Proposed Ordinance to Protect Children From Fentanyl—Classic Hits 100.7 KLOG News

The Longview City Council voted last night to move forward with taking action to combat fentanyl exposure among children.

They voted unanimously to direct city staff to work on drafting an ordinance criminalizing the endangerment of minors with controlled substances. This move comes after the recent news that a 3-month-old was killed from fentanyl exposure back in December.

Mayor Erik Halvorson said, “Under current state law, there is a felony charge for meth and meth only. But there’s been attempts in the legislature to expand that to other modern drugs like fentanyl, and that has stalled. So this ordinance, I thought, was innovative and really touches on our council goal of community safety.”

Halvorson says this is modeled after a similar law recently passed in Everett. If adopted, the ordinance would make exposing a minor to Schedule 1 or 2 controlled substances—including fentanyl, heroin, LSD, and cocaine—a gross misdemeanor in Longview. City councils don’t have the power to make something like this a felony; that would have to be passed by the state legislature. Halvorson did, however, say they would have a carve-out for prescription drugs.

Councilmember Mike Claxton commented on the proposal, saying while he would support it, he did not feel that people under the influence of something like fentanyl would be affected by deterrence. He did, however, say the law allows action rather than reaction in these types of situations.

City Attorney Charlotte Archer and Longview Police Chief Robert Huhta said they would be working to help with the creation of the ordinance and bringing it back in June for the council to vote on.