GLASGOW, Ky. — Rita Bishop thinks of her son Dalton when she smells fresh-cut grass.
“He mowed lots of people’s lawns here. That was his side job,” she recalled, sitting on the front porch of her home in Barren County.
The 22-year-old has been gone nearly 18 months. He had a heart for people who were hurting and the dog at the shelter overlooked by everyone else, his family said.
In 2017, Dalton told his mother he was struggling with alcohol.
He went to treatment facilities, but relapsed.
Later, she learned he was taking pills.
“When I found out he was taking anything like that, I mean, I was physically sick and I said, ‘You know there’s only two ways this ends,’” Rita Bishop said. “And he said, ‘I know, I know, I know. I’m trying. I’m doing better.’”
In November 2020, Dalton’s father William came home after dropping off a pizza hours earlier.
“The pizza box was still there unopened,” he said. “I knew something was wrong, and we went in the bathroom and he was laying in the bathtub, and I pretty much knew he was gone then.”
Dalton’s mother said part of a pill that turned out to be counterfeit was on the back of the toilet.
“He only took half of that and when we got the autopsy report back, it was 100% fentanyl,” she said.
The Bishops reached out to lawmakers, who filed House Bill 215.
“There are too many people in America that are going through this right now,” said Rep. Steve Riley (R-Glasgow), one of the bill’s sponsors, before the measure passed the House. “There are too many Daltons in our country.”
Under the legislation, someone guilty of trafficking certain amounts of fentanyl won’t be released until serving at least 85% of their sentence.
Supporters say it sends a message to those dealing the deadly drug, but opponents argue Kentucky should invest money in treatment over incarceration.
“What I have learned is increased penalties and incarceration don’t move the needle,” said Rep. Joni Jenkins (D-Shively). “They’re very expensive for us as a state and—we are incarcerating people for many, many years, without getting the bang for our buck.”
The governor signed the legislation, known as “Dalton’s Law,” earlier this month.
“Of course, I do not want my son’s memory tarnished by anything, but—there’s a bigger picture and surely somebody can be helped,” Rita Bishop said. “Surely, something can be done.”
A state report shows fentanyl was involved in more than 70% of all overdose deaths the year Dalton died.
The Bishops know they’re not alone in their loss, but they hope Dalton’s Law may help another family.
In January, Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron joined more than a dozen other state leaders to call on the State Department to take immediate steps to prevent fentanyl coming in from China and Mexico.