Make no mistake, illegal fentanyl is illegal in California. Dealers can serve years in prison or jail if convicted of dealing illegal fentanyl. More than that, individuals are being charged and convicted with murder for dealing in illegal fentanyl, leading to someone's death.
Assembly Democrats are not standing idly by. We are tackling the fentanyl crisis with strong public safety protections and robust public health measures. We are mindful of the generational social and economic damage done to Black and Brown communities by relying singularly on the criminal justice system to address a public health crisis while enacting new laws, investing more money and resources, and mobilizing law enforcement efforts to protect Californians from illegal fentanyl.
Legislative Democrats authored and passed the following measures which are already law or are still working their way through the legislative process.
Statuses as of 9/13/2023:
- AB 33 (Bains) – Establishes the Fentanyl Misuse and Overdose Prevention Task Force to undertake specified duties relating to fentanyl abuse (Assembly Floor).
- AB 461 (Ramos) – Requires community colleges and CSU to stock and distribute fentanyl test strips and provide information about the use and location of fentanyl test strips as part of campus orientations (Senate Floor).
- AB 474 (Rodriguez) – Requires the State Threat Assessment Center and the Office of Emergency Services to prioritize cooperation with state and local efforts to illuminate, disrupt, degrade and dismantle criminal networks trafficking opioid drugs (Passed the Legislature).
- AB 701 (Villapudua) – Applies the existing weight enhancements that increase the penalty and fine for trafficking substances containing heroin, cocaine base and cocaine to fentanyl (Passed the Legislature).
- AB 1027 (Petrie-Norris) – Requires social media platforms to disclose their policies regarding communications between users of the platform. This change provides law enforcement agencies with access to information that could be invaluable in their efforts to investigate online illicit drug transactions (Passed the Legislature).
- AB 1060 (Ortega) – Requires health plans and Medi-Cal to cover prescription and over-the-counter Narcan (Pending in the Assembly).
- AB 1166 (Bains) – Clarifies that a good samaritan who renders emergency care by administering or furnishing an opioid antagonist is generally not liable for civil damages resulting from an act or omission related to the action (Chaptered).
- SB 10 (Cortese) – Establishes Melanie's Law which requires school safety plans of schools serving students in grades seven to 12 to include a protocol for responding to a student’s opioid overdose (Assembly Floor).
- SB 60 (Umberg) – Authorizes a person to seek a court order requiring a social media platform, as defined, to remove content that includes an offer to sell, transport, or otherwise provide specified controlled substances (Passed the Legislature).
- SB 234 (Portantino) – Requires public schools, colleges and universities, stadiums, concert venues and amusement parks to maintain unexpired doses of opioid antagonists on its premises and ensure that at least two employees are aware of the location of the opioid antagonists (Passed the Legislature).
- SB 641 (Roth) – Requires the state to make all FDA approved formulations and dosage strengths of naloxone or another opioid antagonist that are indicated for the emergency treatment of known or suspected opioid overdose available to eligible NDP applicants to the extent that federal funding is not jeopardized (Assembly Floor).