An Act To Increase Penalties for Furnishing or Trafficking Scheduled Drugs That Cause Death or Serious Bodily Injury
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0944
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: BUNKER, HATCH, CARR, CHURCHILL, FAIRCLOTH, GREELEY, GROSE, LESSARD
Amends: 17-A MRSA §1105-A, 17-A MRSA §1105-B, 17-A MRSA §110, 17-A MRSA §1105-C

Legislative Document 
No. 944 
H.P.701 
House of Representatives, February 25, 2003 
An Act To Increase Penalties for Furnishing or Trafficking 
Scheduled Drugs That Cause Death or Serious Bodily Injury 
Submitted by the Department of the Attorney General pursuant to Joint Rule 204. 
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed. 
7r/~/h.17/~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative BUNKER of Kossuth Township. 
Cosponsored by Senator HATCH of Somerset and 
Representatives: CARR of Lincoln, CHURCHILL of Washburn, FAIRCLOTH of Bangor, 
GREELEY of Levant, GROSE of Woolwich, LESSARD of Topsham. 
Primed on recycled paper 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §1105-A, sub-§I, 1[1JI and J, as enacted by PL 
2001, c. 667, Pt. 0, §25 and affected by §36, are amended to read: 
I. 
At the time of the offense, the person trafficks in 300 
or more pills, capsules, tablets, vials, ampules, syringes 
or units containing any narcotic drug other than heroin, or 
any quantity of pills, capsules, tablets, units, compounds, 
mixtures or substances that, 
in the aggregate, 
e9HtaiHS 
read: 
contain 8,000 milligrams or more of oxycodone 
or 
1,000 
milligrams or more of hydromorphone; 9F 
J. 
At the time of the offense, the person trafficks in a 
quantity of 300 or more pills, capsules, tablets or units 
containing 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA, 
or any 
other drug listed in section 1102, subsection 1, paragraph 
O ... l.. 
Sec. 2. 17-A MRSA §1105-A, sub-§I, 1[1[K and L are enacted to 
K. 
Death is in fact caused by the use of that scheduled 
drug and the drug is a schedule W drug. 
A violation of this 
paragraph is a Class A crime; or 
L. 
Serious bodily injury is in fact caused by the use of 
that scheduled drug and the drug is a schedule W drug. 
A 
violation of this paragraph is a Class B crime. 
Sec. 3. 17-A MRSA §1105-B, sub-§I, 1[B, as enacted by PL 2001, 
c. 383, §119 and affected by §156, is amended to read: 
B. 
At 
the 
time 
of 
the 
offense, 
the 
person 
has 
been 
convicted of any offense under this chapter punishable by a 
term of imprisonment of more than one year or under any law 
of the United States, of another state or of a 
foreign 
country relating to scheduled drugs or counterfeit drugs, as 
defined 
in this 
chapter, 
and 
punishable 
by 
a 
term 
of 
imprisonment of more than one year. 
Section 9-A governs the 
use of prior convictions when determining a sentence, except 
that, for the purposes of this paragraph, the date of each 
prior conviction may precede the commission of the offense 
being enhanced by more than 10 years; 9F 
Sec. 4. 17-A MRSA §1105-B, sub-§I, 1[C, as repealed and replaced 
by PL 2001, c. 667, Pt. D, §26 and affected by §36, is amended to 
read: 
C. 
At 
firearm 
the time of the offense, 
the person possesses 
a 
in the furtherance of the offense, uses a firearm, 
carries a firearm or is armed with a firearmTL-QI 
Sec.S. 17-A MRSA §110S-B, sub-§l, llD is enacted to read: 
D. 
Death or serious bodily injury is in fact caused by the 
use of that counterfeit drug. 
Sec. 6. 17-A MRSA §1105-C, sub-§l, 1JI, as enacted by PL 2001, 
c. 667, Pt. D, §32 and affected by §36, is amended to read: 
I. 
At the time of the offense, the person furnishes 300 or 
more pills, capsules, tablets, vials, ampules, syringes or 
units containing any narcotic drug other than heroin, or any 
quantity of pills, 
capsules, 
tablets, 
units, 
compounds, 
mixtures or 
substances that, 
in the aggregate, 
eeBtaiB6 
contain 8,000 milligrams 
or 
more 
of 
oxycodone 
or 
1,000 
milligrams or more of hydromorphone; eF 
Sec. 7. 17-A MRS A §1105-C, sub-§l, llJ, as enacted by PL 2001, 
c. 667, Pt. D, §32 and affected by §36, is amended to read: 
read: 
J. 
At the 
quantity of 
containing 
other drug 
OT~ 
time of the offense, 
the person furnishes 
a 
or more pills, capsules, tablets or units 
3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, MDMA, 
or any 
listed in section 1102, subsection 1, paragraph 
Sec. 8. 17-A MRSA §110S-C, sub-§l. 1l1lK and L are enacted to 
K. 
Death is in fact caused by the use of that scheduled 
drug and the drug is a schedule W drug. 
A violation of this 
paragraph is a Class B crime; or 
L. 
Serious bodily injury is in fact caused by the use of 
that scheduled drug and the drug is a schedule W drug. 
A 
violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime. 
SUMMARY 
This 
bill 
increases 
the 
penalties 
for 
trafficking 
or 
furnishing schedule W drugs or a counterfeit scheduled drug when 
death or serious bodily injury results from the use of the drug, 
such as in cases of accidental overdoses. 
Schedule 
W drugs 
include those whose use is most likely to result in a fatal 
overdose, 
such 
as 
heroin, 
cocaine 
and prescription narcotic 
pills. 
Counterfeit drugs are those substances, sometimes sold as 
illegal drugs, 
that are capable of causing death or serious 
bodily injury, such as poisons or chemical agents. 
The changes 
add 
such 
situations 
to 
the 
existing 
list 
of 
aggravating 
circumstances that already provide for increased penal ties, such 
as furnishing or trafficking within 1,000 feet of a school or to 
a child under 18 years of age. 
The death or serious bodily 
injury need not be reasonably foreseeable by the defendant; it is 
sufficient if the death would not have happened but for the use 
of the drug, either alone or concurrently with another cause, 
unless the concurrent cause was clearly sufficient to produce the 
result, and the conduct of the defendant was clearly insufficient. 
This bill makes it a Class A crime with the possibility of a 
4-year mandatory minimum sentence when death occurs 
from the 
trafficking of a schedule W drug. 
The bill also makes it a Class 
B 
crime with the possibility of 
a 
2-year mandatory 
minimum 
sentence when death occurs from the furnishing of a schedule W 
drug, 
when 
serious 
bodily 
injury occurs 
from 
trafficking 
a 
schedule W drug or when death or serious bodily injury occurs 
from the trafficking or furnishing of a counterfeit scheduled 
drug. 
A Class C crime results from furnishing a schedule W drug 
when 
serious 
bodily 
injury occurs. 
Lower 
mandatory 
minimum 
sentences apply to certain first-time offenders.