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An Act To Make a Needed Clarification to the Term "Heroin" as Used in the Maine Criminal Code
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 17-A MRSA §1102, sub-§1, ¶I, as amended by PL 2015, c. 492, §1, is further amended to read:
 
I. Unless listed or described in another schedule, any compound, mixture or preparation containing narcotic drugs, including, but not limited to, the following narcotic drugs or their salts, isomers or salts of isomers: heroin (diacetylmorphine), methadone, methadone hydrochloride, levo-alpha-acetyl-methadol, or LAAM, pethidine, morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, hydromorphone, buprenorphine, fentanyl, acetylfentanyl and any methylfentanyl derivatives and opium. As used in this chapter, "heroin" means any compound, mixture or preparation containing heroin in any quantity, and the total weight of that compound, mixture or preparation is considered heroin, regardless of the proportion of heroin contained in the compound, mixture or preparation;
 
SUMMARY
This bill responds to the Law Court decision regarding State of Maine v. Dale M. Pinkham, Sr., 2016 ME 59. The bill clarifies that when the term "heroin" is used in the chapter of the Maine Criminal Code regarding drug offenses, that term includes heroin that is mixed with other substances and that the total weight of that compound, mixture or preparation is defined as "heroin."