A push to create mandatory minimum prison sentences for fentanyl-related crimes will move forward after it hit the skids earlier last week.

Republican members of the House of Representatives and state Senate, which passed different versions of the proposal, had reached a stalemate June 16 over an unrelated policy tacked onto the bill -- decriminalization of psilocybin, the psychedelic compound found in hallucinogenic mushrooms.

For Sen. Bill Gannon, a Sandown Republican who sponsored SB 14, that wasn’t up for debate.

But Sen. Daryl Abbas, a Salem Republican, replaced Gannon as a negotiator on Wednesday and struck a deal with state representatives: The Senate would accede to lesser mandatory minimum prison sentences if the House agreed to soften the penalty for first offenses on psilocybin possession instead of decriminalizing it.

Deerfield Rep. Kevin Verville, who pitched the psychedelics’ legalization in a separate bill earlier this year, maintained that psilocybin is a non-toxic, non-addictive drug but ultimately agreed to the compromise.

“It’s a completely different type of compound as opposed to opioids and narcotics,” Verville said. “When we talk about fentanyl, we’re talking about highly addictive substances that are potentially very, very deadly.”

Abbas said he agreed to the psilocybin penalty reform because he, too, views fentanyl as a much more dangerous problem for New Hampshire.

“Right now, the biggest drug problem the state is facing is fentanyl,” Abbas said. “Times change, and I think it’s important we adapt along with them. That’s where people are dying.”

Under the agreement, someone convicted of possession of more than 20 grams of fentanyl would go to prison for at least 3 1/2 years; for possession of more than 50 grams, that time would double to seven years. Anyone convicted of supplying fentanyl to someone who died as a result would go to prison for a minimum of five years.

The proposal notably deletes Deerfield Rep. Terry Roy’s amendment that built in a “safety valve” to preserve judicial discretion in certain cases.

For psilocybin, anyone convicted of possession of three-quarters of an ounce or less would be charged with a misdemeanor on first offense. Further offenses would remain a felony, as is the current law.

The Legislature at large must still agree to the changes, which they’ll vote on June 26. Gov. Kelly Ayotte is expected to sign the bill, as she’s publicly pushed for mandatory minimums on fentanyl-related crimes.

Charlotte Matherly is the statehouse reporter for the Concord Monitor and Monadnock Ledger-Transcript in partnership with Report for America. Follow her on X at @charmatherly, subscribe to her Capital Beat newsletter and send her an email at cmatherly@cmonitor.com.