Ron DeSantis makes it a CRIME for drug users to expose first responders to fentanyl and blames Biden's 'unwillingness to secure the border' as the reason cops are facing more danger

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday that makes it a crime in Florida for someone to knowingly expose law enforcement and first responders to fentanyl.

He warned offenders that he would 'throw the book at you' if they lie to officers about whether fentanyl is present when they are responding to a call and blamed President Joe Biden for his 'unwillingness to secure the border' in exacerbating the opioid crisis.

'When you're putting fentanyl in our communities - you are killing people,' DeSantis said during a Monday press conference. 'And you need to be treated like the murderer that you are.'

The dangerous narcotic has been used nefariously in recent years by traffickers who are lacing other drugs with the deathly substance. Thousands of accidental overdoses and deaths have occurred as a result of the fentanyl epidemic – especially as the southern border crisis persists.

Fentanyl, unlike many other dangerous narcotics, does not need to be ingested to be dangerous and can enter the body in harmful amounts just through even unintentional inhalation of the powder substance or, in rare cases, through skin contact. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill on Monday making it a felony to expose first responders to fentanyl or other dangerous narcotics

Along with the massive flow of illegal immigration over the southern border, drug trafficking has also spiked to all-time highs and fentanyl is killing record-numbers of Americans

One story DeSantis often cites is when a toddler died after crawling on the floor of an AirBnB and coming in contact with fentanyl residue in the carpet. He told the tragic story during his bill signing on Monday.

'This is nasty stuff and you have situations where law enforcement personnel are responding to these situations that fentanyl might be involved in,' the Florida Governor noted. 'They really are putting themselves at risk – because it's not like they have to start popping pills to be affected by this.'

Beside the flux of crossings at the southern border and mass of illegal immigrants living in the country as a result of the migrant crisis, drugs have also been flowing at record speeds into the U.S. by way of Mexico.

DeSantis is one of the most staunchly anti-illegal immigration governors in the country and is helping lead efforts to send assistance to the southern border and also implement laws in his state to address the crisis.

For example, Florida is leading and joined-in on a few lawsuits against the Biden administration for his so-called 'parole' program that flies in 30,000 undocumented migrants each month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti and Venezuela and releases them into the country without legal status.

The brunt of the burden in the parole flights is felt in Florida, where more than 300,000 were flown by the Biden administration in the last year.

To further address how the migration crisis is affecting the drug issue in Florida, Gov. DeSantis signed the bill on Monday making it a felony to expose first responders to fentanyl, or other analogue drugs like Vicodin, oxycontin or Percocet.

'This bill, [SB] 718, provides that any adult who, through unlawful possession of dangerous fentanyl or analogues, exposes any first responder to that fentanyl that results in overdose or serious bodily injury – that we're going to prosecute you as a second degree felon for doing that,' DeSantis said at a press conference on Monday when signing it into law.

'So if an officer says, 'Do you have drugs in your possession?' and you lie and then the officer ends up getting exposed and harmed, we're going to throw the book at you and we're going to hold you accountable,' he added.

'We want to make sure that the people who wear the uniform are protected.'

Analogue drugs refers to ones that are chemically similar to illegal narcotics but are available with a valid and legal prescription.