Are harsher fentanyl sentences the solution to the opiate crisis? Experts say no
Patterson, New Jersey is trying to fight back against the grip of fentanyl by passing harsher laws. But critics say those laws punish addiction and don't address more serious problems.
It's a cold winter night in Paterson, New Jersey. There's still snow on the ground from yesterday's storm, and on a corner, under the neon lights of a liquor store, a group of people are gathered. Some are homeless, many are opioid users, and most have had brushes with death. "I just lost a good friend of mine right now. It hurts", says Rob De Maria. A boyish young man, dimples and dark undereye circles, he says he lived out here for two years while addicted to opiates. He's now tapering off, he says it got too scary for him. In part, because of fentanyl, the potent,
