A proposal to make antifreeze bitter has again passed the state House of Representatives.
The House voted 141-23 on Wednesday to approve House Bill 40, which would require adding the bitter-tasting chemical denatonium benzoate to antifreeze sold in Georgia. Fourteen other states have passed similar laws.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Tommy Benton, R-Jefferson, calls the measure Chief’s Law in honor of a former student whose dogs had been poisoned. He also cited the case of Lynn Turner, who died in prison serving two life sentences for using antifreeze to kill her husband and, several years later, her boyfriend . The husband was a Cobb County police officer, and the boyfriend was a Forsyth County firefighter.
“It smells sweet, tastes sweet and is therefore attractive to small children and animals and has been used to poison individuals,” Benton said of antifreeze. “By the time you realize you’ve been poisoned, it’s too late.”
The House approved the proposal the past two years, but it stalled in the state Senate each time. It must still get through the Senate to land on Gov. Nathan Deal’s desk.
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