A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the California Senate on Monday announced a package of legislation to address the growing fentanyl crisis and the rampant outbreak of organized retail theft.
Sen. Mike McGuire (D-Healdsburg), who was sworn in as interim president last month, recited troubling statistics to reporters as he advanced proposals that he said would address the issues through a more rehabilitative approach.
“There are more than 12,000 drug overdose deaths annually in California. More than half of those deaths are related to fentanyl,” McGuire said. “Black and Latino communities have seen a 200% increase in overdose deaths since 2017. Native Americans have seen a 150% increase % of overdose deaths in the same period. The Hoopa Valley Tribe faces a fentanyl death rate eight times greater than the state average.
The Senate action comes after Assembly leaders this month presented their plans to address these issues, a sign that the drug and robbery crises will be priorities this legislative session — and in California's 2024 elections.
The set of 14 bills announced by McGuire and other Senate Democratic and Republican leaders takes a comprehensive approach. This legislation, if passed and signed by the governor, would increase access to treatment, enhance addiction services for those working in the criminal justice system and punish criminal trafficking of xylazine, or “trank,” a fentanyl-laced horse tranquilizer.
Among these bills is SB 1144, written by Sen. Nancy Skinner (D-Berkeley), which would tighten regulations to help prevent the sale of stolen goods online.
Tinish Hollins, executive director of the nonprofit Californians for Safety and Justice, called the package a “thoughtful approach to nuanced challenges.”
Hollins said the package is necessary “in an environment where special interests gaslight Californians with destructive and ineffective rollbacks.”
She was referring to law enforcement agencies that pushed for changes to Proposition 47, a controversial ballot measure that reduced some retail theft charges and drug crimes to misdemeanors.
Contra Costa County. Atty. Diana Picton called for a strategic approach that moves away from a one-size-fits-all approach to public safety.
“I saw firsthand the need to reimagine our approach to criminal justice,” she said. “To reconsider and rebuke them through the lens of racial and socioeconomic disparity, with an emphasis on restorative justice and rehabilitation programs for non-violent crimes.”
