Assembly and Senate public safety committees have repeatedly blocked legislation to stiffen penalties for fentanyl dealers who cause death.
The message from Sacramento has been clear: powerful state lawmakers have no appetite for a return to the War on Drugs, even as a way to combat the deadly fentanyl epidemic.
“I’m stunned,” Umberg said. “It’s very difficult to comprehend the committee’s view on this simple admonishment. … It’s discouraging that my colleagues don’t see the reality of the epidemic and the benefit of stopping repeat fentanyl dealers.”During the hearing, Wiener said Umberg’s bill was overly broad and would not provide the solution that proponents are seeking.
“The focus should be on causation, prevention and treatment,” Bradford said during a recent hearing. “We’ve seen this movie before. In the ’80s and ’90s, with mass incarceration … thousands of Black and Brown people doing life in prison for selling an ounce of cocaine where no one lost their lives.”The race argument falls flat with state Sen.
“As chair of Public Safety, I felt that the number of bills heard in my committee this year did not provide enough time to properly discuss this crisis in a manner that is consistent with its importance,” Jones-Sawyer said in a written statement.AB 33 from Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains, D-Bakersfield, to create a Fentanyl Addiction and Overdose Prevention Task Force.
Alexandra’s Law would have allowed prosecutors to argue that dealers not heeding the warning had “an abandoned and malignant heart” and exhibited “a wanton disregard for life,” setting the stage for a homicide charge.“I can’t let this issue go,” Umberg said after the admonition bill was rejected. “I can’t face any more parents grieving their lost daughters and sons without doing everything I can to stop this fentanyl poisoning. I will continue to return with other measures.
Cristine Soto DeBerry, executive director of the progressive Prosecutors Alliance of California, said most of the fentanyl-related bills have wrongly focused on punishment.
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