War on Fentanyl: Bill to make ownership of pill presses illegal in Washington heads to Governor's desk
OLYMPIA, Wash. - Law enforcement could soon have more tools to stop fentanyl pill mills from cranking out dangerous drugs in the state of Washington.
Lawmakers say a bill that has now passed both the House and Senate will make it illegal to purchase or own a pill press. Legislators say those pill presses are being used to manufacture thousands of fentanyl pills a day, contributing to the fentanyl crisis in the state.
FOX 13 reported on a manufacturing case in Marysville last year, when a couple was arrested and accused of pumping out hundreds of fentanyl pills in the garage of their suburban home. A neighbor, who didn't want to be named, said that she had no idea they could be manufacturing drugs across the street.
"It’s so scary, I would have never thought that house would be involved in anything," she said in July 2022. "You’ve got children that play here and any amount of fentanyl would have killed a child."
The two people were accused of using pill presses to manufacture those drugs. Washington State Patrol said officers found four pill press die sets that could produce 10 to 50 tablets a minute inside.
"They can make thousands of them an hour," said Republican Rep. Dan Griffey of the 35th District.
Griffey said House Bill 1209, or "Tyler's Bill" is designed to "stamp out" those manufacturing operations by making it illegal to own, manufacture or possess a pill cloning device. He said It's named after Tyler Yates, who died last year after taking a pressed fentanyl pill.
"He had a chronic back injury due to a motorcycle accident, and he went to the black market to buy some Percocet," said Griffey. "He was on camera at a local casino, taking a pill, and they watched him go to sleep and take his last breath on that camera."
Court documents show Kierah Rose Lincoln and Richard Dean Cybulski are now facing charges of controlled substance homicide in connection to Yates' case.
Meantime, Griffey says presses are also being used to produce candy-looking rainbow fentanyl, similar to the batch found in Marysville.
"They are also pressing it into Skittles shapes or you know, the Lucky Charms marshmallows if you will," said Griffey. "So, they are actively going after our young folks."
Police find rainbow fentanyl disguised in Tic Tac container during Marysville drug arrest
The Marysville Police Department is issuing a warning about the possibility of rainbow fentanyl circulating in the community after arresting a man they say had nearly 200 pills in his pocket.
Just last week, US Attorney Nick Brown announced a major bust in Griffey's District. A grand jury indicted 27 people for drug trafficking, many accused of having ties to the "Aryan Family," which is a white supremacist prison gang, according to Brown. Griffey says they also seized 650,000 fentanyl-cloned tablets.
"Federal law is very ambiguous on this pill press issue, that’s why Washington state really had to get in front of it," said Griffey.
He says under Tyler's Bill, law enforcement would be able to impose harsher sanctions and longer sentences. Griffey says the bill passed the House and Senate with bi-partisan support. It will next head to the Governor's desk, where Griffey said Inslee is expected to sign it.
He says in the meantime, people should be having discussions with children and loved ones about the deadly fentanyl pills that are being designed and pressed to look like FDA-certified medication.
"It is so important that we talk about the ready availability of this." said Griffey.