West Virginia’s Senate passed a bill this week that would make it a felony to possess fentanyl and some other illegal drugs. The bill passed on a 32-1 vote and now goes before the House of Delegates. The regular session ends March 11. Sen. Charles Trump, of Morgan County, said the idea behind enhancing penalties for drug possession from a misdemeanor is to move those cases from magistrate court to circuit court, where there are more resources and programs available, including drug treatment courts and supervised probation. Besides fentanyl, the drugs designated in the bill are heroin, cocaine, PCP, LSD and methamphetamine. More than half the states since 2021 have at least considered legislation aimed at stemming the toll of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids.