As opioids kill more Californians than guns, liberal Democrats block solutions | Opinion

For the past several years, our state has been entrenched in a fight against fentanyl. According to the Associated Press, fentanyl kills roughly 110 Californians each week. This poison is a synthetic opioid often used to manufacture counterfeit prescription pills with deadly results. Unfortunately, powerful legislators in the Democratic Party are blocking the Assembly and Senate from advancing bipartisan solutions attempting to address the fentanyl crisis from public health and public safety perspectives.

The majority of these bills, which include common-sense measures to hold traffickers accountable, have broad support from victims’ families and the public. While hyper-partisan politics grinds solutions to a halt, poison in the form of fentanyl has spread across our state with astonishing speed.

According to a 2022 report by the California Department of Education, 80% of drug-related deaths in California were due to fentanyl, and there were 6,000 opioid-related deaths in California in 2021, according to the California Department of Public Health. By comparison, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were roughly 3,500 gun deaths in California in 2020.

Yes, fentanyl and other opioids kill more people in California than guns do.

Fentanyl is unlike other drugs due to its potency — it’s more than 50 times stronger than heroin. It is increasingly killing people who are not chronic users or addicts, like Zach Didier, a young man from my neighborhood in Rocklin who was poisoned by fentanyl two days after Christmas in 2020. After a drug dealer sought out young adults via social media, Zach purchased what he thought was Percocet. It turned out to be a counterfeit pill laced with a fatal dose of fentanyl.

Zach was only 17.

To stop this wave of tragedies, we need a multi-pronged approach that educates people about the dangers of fentanyl, provides treatment to those who are addicted and imposes real consequences for people looking to make a quick buck selling this poison.

Republicans have backed a laundry list of bills to do exactly that.

I authored bipartisan plans to educate children about the dangers of fentanyl and to ensure public schools have the overdose medication Narcan on campus in the event that a student, staff member or campus visitor is exposed to this deadly poison. I also authored legislation that would compel individuals convicted of fentanyl-related crimes to complete a probation course focused on the dangers of fentanyl.

While education and treatment are important in addressing this crisis, that is where the conversation stops for liberal Democrats. They refuse to hold traffickers accountable, even those who repeatedly sell counterfeit pills that kill unsuspecting Californians. They claim that imposing meaningful consequences for dealers would be a return to the “war on drugs” and that Republicans want to “criminalize addiction.”

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The war on drugs was a failure that we are not interested in repeating. People with substance use and addiction disorders need help and treatment. But if we don’t deter business-minded criminals from profiting off the deaths of innocent Californians, we will be fighting this epidemic at an extreme disadvantage. Existing law is so weak that just last year, two men who were arrested in Tulare County with 150,000 fentanyl pills were deemed “low risk,” released with no bail and then skipped town. Law enforcement did their job by arresting these men, but our Legislature created the circumstances that shielded them from accountability.

These drug traffickers did not need treatment for addiction; they needed to be sent to prison.

A bill to increase penalties on individuals caught with an ounce or more of fentanyl failed on a party-line vote. For reference, one kilogram of fentanyl (2.2 pounds) can kill 500,000 people, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

We have also backed Alexandra’s Law, which would deliver a written notice to convicted fentanyl dealers that continuing to sell drugs is dangerous and could be tried as murder. The notice would empower prosecutors to file homicide charges if the dealer continues to sell fentanyl and causes a death. This is similar to an existing law for DUI cases.

Legislation like this does not continue the war on drugs. It targets drug traffickers who are killing people.

Republicans, joined by some Democrats, have offered a multi-faceted approach to this crisis. But without consequences for drug traffickers, we cannot honestly say we are doing everything possible to fight this epidemic. Most Californians, from either side of the aisle, would agree. By misrepresenting Republicans, some Democrats are giving cover to the traffickers who are devastating our communities.

Experimenting with drugs is a bad decision, but it shouldn’t come with a death sentence. The people responsible for these deaths need to be held accountable. Our fight is not with those who need treatment. It is with the individuals who continue to knowingly peddle this poison and profit while unsuspecting teens and young adults die. Holding traffickers accountable will send a message that if you want to exchange lives for profit, there will be consequences.

I stand ready to work with any legislator, Republican or Democrat, to save our kids and young adults. We must act decisively and expeditiously to stop this problem from growing further.