What's behind growing push to punish dealers in fatal ODs?

Faced with an alarming increase in opioid addiction, a growing number of prosecutors are charging dealers not just for selling but for the deaths of customers who overdose on heroin or fentanyl.

Deaths involving heroin nearly tripled from 2010 to 2014 — from 3,036 to 10,574, a faster pace than other illegal drugs, according to a 2016 Drug Enforcement Administration report.

A 2015 DEA study said fatal drug overdoses are the leading cause of injury deaths in the U.S., ahead of deaths from motor vehicle accidents and gunshots.

The painkiller is often prescribed for advanced cancer patients, but it's also illegally manufactured in clandestine labs, frequently in Mexico.

— In Summit County, Ohio, since 2013 there have been 22 involuntary manslaughter convictions in heroin or fentanyl deaths.

All of those charged pleaded guilty except Kevin Ecker, who was convicted at trial and sentenced in July to 21 years in prison for a variety of drug-related charges, including causing the fentanyl-related death of a 21-year-old woman.

— In Charleston, West Virginia, Steven Craig Coleman initially faced a murder charge in the overdose death of a mother of three but agreed to plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter and attempting to distribute heroin.

Charging dealers with involuntary manslaughter sends a clear message that they must be held accountable, says Margaret Scott, deputy chief assistant prosecutor in Summit County, Ohio.

Scott says she harbors no illusions these prosecutions will stop all trafficking or even deter some dealers, but they are important to the community as well as the families of victims.