Morrisey signs ‘Lauren’s Law’ to boost drug penalties

Surrounded by family members of the late Lauren Cole, Gov. Patrick Morrisey signs Senate Bill 196 — dubbed “Lauren’s Law” — Thursday in Morgantown. (Photo by Ron Rittenhouse)

MORGANTOWN — Gov. Patrick Morrisey vowed vigilance Thursday afternoon as he signed a bill into law that will deliver harsher penalties to those found guilty of trafficking drugs causing death in the Mountain State.

“We’re gonna constantly be looking for you,” he said. “We’re gonna be targeting you, and by God, we’re gonna hold you accountable.”

During a ceremony in Morgantown, Morrisey signed into law Senate Bill 196, which is now officially known as “Lauren’s Law” on the books in West Virginia. The law delivers penalties of up to 40 years in prison to offending dealers.

Lauren’s Law increases penalties for drug-related crimes, including enhanced sentencing for the delivery of fentanyl; increased penalties for transporting fentanyl into the state and conspiracy to transport; mandatory prison sentences for top-tier drug offenses; creating a new offense for delivery resulting in death, with a mandatory 10- to 40-year sentence; and creating a new offense for offenders labeled “drug kingpins” with a mandatory sentence of 10-to-40 years.

The bill is named in honor of Lauren Cole, a 26-year-old Morgantown woman who died in 2020 after taking a dose of heroin laced with fentanyl. Fentanyl, in its medicinal prescription form, is 80 to 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Gov. Patrick Morrisey addresses the crowd Thursday during a signing ceremony in Morgantown for “Lauren’s Law” to increase drug-trafficking penalties. Family members of the late Lauren Cole were present for the signing. From left are parents Michael Cole and Cherie Cole, Debbie McLaughlin, and grandparents Kathleen and Michael Cole. (Photo by Ron Rittenhouse)

The governor, who calls the drug “a weapon of mass destruction,” said families and communities here have languished under its shadow for too long.

West Virginia regularly leads the nation in drug overdose deaths.

With Lauren’s parents, Michael and Cherie Cole, looking on, Morrisey signed the bill just down the hall from Lauren’s Wish – a nonprofit, 24-bed triage center they helped found in the years after their daughter’s death.

The center, which offers counseling and additional help to overdose survivors, is located in Hazel’s House of Hope on Scott Avenue. It just saw its 900th client earlier this year.

That’s a sad irony, Michael Cole said. Lauren was a social worker who was good at her job and often counseled those battling addiction.

Right before she died, she had talked with her dad about launching just such a clinic.

“We gotta save our kids,” he said after the signing. “We’re losing a generation.”

Cherie Cole brushed tears while holding on tight to the pen the governor had used to sign the bill carrying her daughter’s name.

“Lauren, we did it, honey,” she said.