Los Angeles CA
9-24-2023 9:53pm

Drug Cartels Benefit from Stalling of Fentanyl Bill "Alexandra's Law"

As a legislative proposal, ACA 12 will need to be passed by both houses of the Legislature, & would then be placed on the ballot to be voted on by the citizens of California.

Status of SB44: April 25 set for second hearing. Failed passage in committee. (Ayes 1. Noes 0. NVR 4 Page 900) Meanwhile ACA 12 was introduced June 5th 2023 as a Constitutional Amendment

Assemblyman Vince Fong September 6 Facebook commentary on ACA 12 Alexandra's Law: "We must listen to the voices of families affected by fentanyl poisoning. We will continue to push the ruling party to take action to punish fentanyl dealers..."

"California now leads the ...nation in the number of fentanyl deaths, and we don't have a single law that holds drug dealers accountable for those deaths," said Matt Capelouto at an April 24, 2023 ceremony honoring those who died as a result of the criminal content of fentanyl. ACA 12 "Alexdra's Law" was named in honor of Matt Capelouto's daughter, who died December 23, 2019, due to fentanyl overdose.

SENATE HEALTH (ca.gov) There are two ways to qualify a statewide measure to amend the California Constitution. One way is for the Legislature to adopt an Assembly or a Senate Constitutional Amendment with a two-thirds vote of both legislative houses. This is sometimes referred to as a legislative constitutional amendment.  ACA 13 (Ward) Page 3 of 13
The other way is to collect signatures, submit those signatures, and have those signatures verified through the initiative process. This is sometimes referred to as an initiative for a constitutional amendment. The number of signatures must be equal to at least eight percent of the total votes cast for the office of Governor at the last gubernatorial election. Currently, to qualify an initiative constitutional amendment, 874,641 signatures are required.

SB 44 was authored in December 2022, by Senator Ochoa Bogh and Sen. Tom Umberg from Santa Ana. Senator Rosieliscie Ochoa Bogh was elected in 2020, she is the first Republican Latina state senator in California's history. She is the Vice-Chair of the Public Safety Committee.

Senator Umber has said " This measure is unprecedented in that it has 21 Senate co-authors - a majority of the house. It's clear that the Senate and the vast majority of California's local governments and public safety agencies are calling for this added tool to help them tackle the fentanyl crisis."

YET it was stymied in the Public Safety Committee. (Ayes 1. Noes 0. NVR 4 Page 900) Members of the committee are:

Senator Aisha Wahab (Chair)
Senator Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh (Vice Chair)
Senator Steven Bradford
Senator Nancy Skinner
Senator Scott D. Wiener

SB 44 is defined as "An act to add Section 11369 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to controlled substances."

(b) The court shall advise a person who is convicted of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, a violation of Section 11351, 11352 for transporting, importing, selling, or administering a controlled substance, offering to transport, import, sell, or administer a controlled substance, or attempting to transport, import, sell, or administer a controlled substance, or 11379.6, where the substance contained fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, of the following:
“You are hereby advised that all illicit drugs and counterfeit pills are dangerous to human life and become even deadlier when they are, sometimes unknowingly, mixed with substances such as fentanyl and analogs of fentanyl. People can and have died from these substances, even in very small doses. It is extremely dangerous and deadly to human life to sell or administer drugs, in any form, when not lawfully authorized to do so. If you do so in the future and a person dies as a result of that action, and you knew or should have known that the substance you provided contained fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, you may be charged with homicide, up to and including the crime of murder, within the meaning of Section 187 of the Penal Code.” Code. In addition, this conviction will be considered by a judge or jury as to whether you knew or should have known that the substance you provided to the decedent contained fentanyl.”

Senator Umber has said " This measure is unprecedented in that it has 21 Senate co-authors - a majority of the house. It's clear that the Senate and the vast majority of California's local governments and public safety agencies are calling for this added tool to help them tackle the fentanyl crisis."

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