Madison Mom Who Lost Son To Drugs Champions Tougher Fentanyl Bill

MADISON, CT - A Madison family lost their son to a fentanyl overdose were among the families who watched Gov. Ned Lamont Wednesday sign legislation that reclassifies the drug as a narcotic, ensuring tougher jail sentences for those caught pushing the deadly drug.

The bill treats fentanyl going forward as a narcotic, which means a person convicted of selling it will face a longer prison sentence.

Madison’s Lisa Deane lobbied hard for the bill.

Deane lost her son, Joe Deane, 23, to an overdose of pure fentanyl last year.

A few months later she founded demandZERO and started advocating for the legislation with Shoreline legislators, area police chiefs and other officials.

In 2018, 760 Connecticut residents died from an overdose that included fentanyl. There were a total of 1,017 accidental overdoses that year.

The legislation passed the Senate 33-3 and the House 143-0.

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, R-Derby, who proposed the law, said she was surprised to learn fentanyl was not treated the same as other opioids.

Once she learned that fact Klarides introduced the legislation that had bipartisan support from Democrats and Republicans.