Governor Roy Cooper signed into law "Death by Distribution" (H474).

Representative Dean Arp, a primary sponsor, said, "This new law will ensure that anyone who is working against us by selling opioids and lethal drugs that kill vulnerable people will be held accountable for their actions."

Representative Arp thanks Governor Cooper for signing this bill into law and giving sheriffs, police, and district attorneys across the state another tool to fight against the opioid overdose epidemic.

"We must do everything we can to stop the people who prey on human weakness for profit. This law does not criminalize addiction. We must continue to treat people with addiction, which is the softer, human side of fighting the opioid and drug overdose epidemic. But, for those people who peddle poison for profit and kill kids, the handle of justice cannot be soft," Arp said. 

This bill's primary co-sponsors are Representatives Destin Hall, Carson Smith, and John Faircloth and Senators Harry Brown and Dan Bishop.

Arp thanks the Conference of District Attorneys, the North Carolina Sheriff's Association, and the North Carolina Police Chief Association who were instrumental in this bill's passage. Police Chief William Hollingsed, District Attorneys Trey Robison-Union, Ben David-New Hanover, Pender, Ernie Lee-Onslow, Ashley Welch-Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Macon, Swain, Haywood, Jackson, Seth Banks- Avery, Madison, Mitchell, Watauga, Yancy,Jonathan David-Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, and Bob McBride truly made this law possible.