(24/7 News) -- Governor John Kasich has signed a bill which increases the penalties for trafficking the drug fentanyl in Ohio. At a statehouse ceremony Wednesday, Kasich signed Senate Bill One, which reduces the amount of fentanyl needed to charge someone and carries a mandatory prison sentence of up to eight years.
The law will make Ohio's penalties for fentanyl related crimes as tough as the ones already on the books for heroin.
Fentanyl is on the front lines of the opioid crisis and data released by the CDC says half of all opioid related deaths in the U.S. involve the drug.