ATLANTA — One could hear the sense of accomplishment in Brian Strickland’s voice last Monday afternoon.

The State Senator was explaining all of the positives of Georgia’s new Fentanyl Eradication and Removal Act, also known as SB 79, that implements harsher penalties for fentanyl trafficking. It went into effect on July 1.

Strickland was the second signer on the bill, working with Senator Russ Goodman of Valdosta.

Strickland said the effort behind the bill started because of Gus and Bess Walters who lost their son Austin to fentanyl at the age of 30. Reports say Austin took a Xanax pill which was laced with fentanyl in September 2021.

Strickland, who currently represents parts of Newton County in the State Senate, said he and others wanted to get ahead of the fentanyl problem before it continued to get even worse.

“Someone shouldn’t have to die for us to get ahead of this,” Strickland said. “The law will put the drug in a new class of offense for possession, those who possess, deal or distribute.”

To put the danger of the drug into perspective, four grams can kill 120 people, and only 1.3 pounds could kill 300,000, the state senator said on Monday.

“The bill received bi-partisan support,” Strickland said. “There was a little pushback on the sentencing but it was not something we thought we needed to be added to water it down. There was support from advocates within the community who work with substance abuse laws. It is so deadly we felt we needed to have a very strong law in our state. This is a national problem that has gotten worse with the issues of our border and so much of it coming across. It is not unique to Georgia but something we wanted to get ahead of it.”