CONCORD, N.H. — Responding to a spike in deaths from the powerful painkiller fentanyl, New Hampshire’s attorney general plans to more aggressively pursue murder charges against the dealers of drugs that lead to overdose deaths.

“The message to dealers is: If you sell this stuff here and we can (figure) the facts out, you will be going to jail for a very, very long time,” Attorney General Joe Foster said.

Drug deaths in New Hampshire are predicted to top 400 in 2015, with more than half resulting from people taking fentanyl, a powerful opioid that’s being abused by addicts.

It is at least 40 times as powerful as heroin, Foster said.

Prosecutors can already pursue a “death resulting” charge against dealers under the state’s controlled drug act, a charge that can carry life in prison.

But until now, it’s been rarely used because it can be difficult to track dealers without a paper trail or witnesses willing to talk.

Now, the attorney general’s office is pushing a shift in mindset for law enforcement across the state, offering training on how to treat overdoses as crime scenes and urging the use of second-degree murder charges when a dealer can be clearly linked to a death.

Foster is asking lawmakers for $115,000 to fund a new prosecutor focused on drug cases.

He is also exploring using a federal grant to hire a second drug prosecutor.

The new policy aims to deter or appropriately punish dealers who are selling such a deadly drug.

Foster also hopes the push will better inform dealers and users about the risks of fentanyl. It is difficult to distinguish between heroin and fentanyl by sight; sometimes they are combined and while some dealers may know they are selling fentanyl, others may not, Foster said.

Treating overdose sites as crime scenes may also help law enforcement trace how the drugs are coming into New Hampshire and allow investigators to work their way up the delivery chain to bigger suppliers, Foster said.

The focus isn’t unique to New Hampshire. Prosecutors from New Jersey to Ohio have recently held dealers responsible for causing overdose deaths.

The Drug Policy Alliance, a group focused on criminal justice reform and ending the so-called war on drugs, said charging low-level dealers is not an effective deterrent and might prevent people from calling for help in overdose situations.

“To the extent it’s absolutely essential to treat overdose and that risk as a health issue, criminalizing and going after people who are involved in this market is the last thing you want to do,” said Ethan Nadelmann, the group’s executive director.

But Foster noted the very real consequences of dealing a drug as powerful as fentanyl.

“People who sell fentanyl are selling poison,” he said. “It is so deadly.”

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