A bill that sponsors say will provide a better way to prosecute drug dealers in connection with overdose deaths narrowly cleared a House committee on Friday amid concerns that friends and relatives of the victims will be the ones who wind up getting convicted.

House Bill 474 creates a felony for "death by distribution" punishable by 3.5 to 7.5 years in prison. Those with drug trafficking records would face eight to 17 years behind bars for an aggravated offense.

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"For people who peddle poison for profit and kill kids, the hand of justice cannot be soft," said Rep. Dean Arp, R-Union, a primary sponsor of the bill.

Arp said six people die each day in North Carolina of a drug overdose, and convicting dealers of murder is difficult because prosecutors cannot prove an intent to kill in their actions. The legislation would eliminate that concern, he said.

"We have a hole in our law that is preventing us from going after people who are actually selling this stuff as a commercial enterprise," Union County District Attorney Trey Robinson told members of the House Judiciary committee.

"The current law just doesn't work in a courtroom," agreed New Hanover County District Attorney Ben David.

But some lawmakers questioned the impact of the proposal if it's enacted into law.

"Does the intent in the illegal distribution have any bearing at all?" Rep. Hugh Blackwell, R-Burke, asked in an effort to determine whether friends sharing drugs could be charged if one dies.

Rep. Sydney Batch, D-Wake, said the bill would "undercut" the state's Good Samaritan law, which protects people who call for help after an overdose from prosecution.

"I'm concerned people are not going to call when their friend, a family member or someone else [overdoses]," Batch said.

Arp compared the proposal to charging a habitual drunken driver who winds up killing someone.

"If we're going after drug dealers, I have absolutely no problem with that," Batch responded. "[But] it will likely not be drug dealers. It will inadvertently be citizens who happen to be using drugs together."

The mothers of two overdose victims agreed.

"This legislation is just a knee-jerk reaction because people want revenge," Lettie Micheletto said. "I totally get that because I did too."

But Micheletto said the law will ultimately lead friends to abandon anyone during an overdose instead of seeking help to save that person's life.

"If you want to go after drug dealers, go after drug dealers, not after addicts," she said.

"This bill does not provide meaningful justice," Pam Schultz said. "This bill will provide easy prosecutions of friends and family members that will go toward easing the pain of parents suffering a devastating loss and fill our jails with the wrong people."

Prosecutors urged people to trust them and others in law enforcement to use their discretion in enforcing the law, if it's enacted.

"We don't care about the subsistence dealer. We don't care about 16-year-olds sharing needles," Robinson said. "We care about the people that have established a chain of commerce and are bringing this stuff into our counties. That's who we're trying to get."

"We're going to keep our focus not on the war on drugs – that war was lost years ago – but on drug dealers," David said.

Tessie Castillo of the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition said that hasn't been the case elsewhere, however. West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania lead the nation in overdose deaths, and all have death by distribution laws on the books, she said. The majority of those prosecuted under those laws are friends and relatives of the victims, she said.

The bill passed House Judiciary on a 14-12 vote and could be on the House floor by next week. The Senate has a similar bill pending.