CA’n lawmakers demand greater penalties for fentanyl sales crimes
The liberalization perspective on hard drugs appears to be fading away, in favor of the hard enforcement approach — particularly on fentanyl dealers (who sell the opioid responsible for 1 in 5 young adult CA’n deaths) distributing fatal doses to clients. CalMatters’ Emily Hoeven summarizes the state’s mounting fentanyl overdose crisis, and lawmakers’ efforts (from both sides of the aisle) to clamp down on crime.
Bills dealing with the super-powerful synthetic opioid are already piling up, many of them focused on youth in the wake of a stunning analysis that found fentanyl was responsible for 1 in 5 deaths among 15- to 24-year-old Californians in 2021….
Last year, for example, lawmakers rejected a proposal to permit convicted drug dealers to be charged with manslaughter or murder for selling fatal doses of fentanyl or other opiates or narcotics. They also killed a bill to increase jail time for people selling 2 grams or more of fentanyl, including those hawking it on social media.
Republican Assemblymember Jim Patterson of Fresno, a member of the newly created Assembly Select Committee on Fentanyl, Opioid Addiction, and Overdose Prevention, said last week he intends to introduce a similar version of the latter bill. “Since such a small amount of fentanyl can have deadly consequences, it’s vital that we change the way we hold dealers and suppliers accountable,” Patterson said in a statement.
Todd Gloria, the Democratic mayor of San Diego, signed an executive order in late November directing the city police department to “strengthen and prioritize enforcement for fentanyl sales-related crimes to the greatest extent possible.” Gloria also announced plans to pursue state and federal legislation that would, among other things, create sentencing enhancements for fentanyl trafficking and sales near schools.
Another approach — opening safe injection sites, where people can administer drugs using clean needles under the supervision of health professionals — may not stand much more of a chance. Angering harm reduction advocates, Newsom in August vetoed a bill that would have authorized overdose prevention pilot programs in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland, citing concerns of “worsening drug consumption challenges.”
This article originally appeared in CalMatters. Read the whole thing here.
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