Senator Umberg Renews Fentanyl Warning Efforts

(Sacramento, CA) – Senator Thomas J. Umberg (D-Santa Ana) announced today that he is re-introducing his Alexandra’s Law (contained in last year’s Senate Bill 44) via another one of his measures – Senate Bill 21 – currently located in the Assembly.

SB 21, sponsored by San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, proposes to implement a Fentanyl Admonishment in California similar to the state’s current Watson Advisement for DUIs.

“Fentanyl is not going away, and neither am I,” said Senator Umberg.  He went on to state that:

Alexandra’s Law contained a plurality of Senate members as co-authors last year. We heard the concerns and objections of the few members of the Senate Public Safety Committee, took numerous amendments (including the latest addition of mandatory drug court and/or treatment for offenders), and continued to work on this proposal throughout the year. With ever-growing concern in both houses and public opinion off the charts demanding a legislative response to our fentanyl epidemic, I am confident that we’re poised for success in 2024. I also believe that beginning this measure in the Assembly this year will allow for a different set of discussions with open minds.

According to recent reports, approximately 106,661 people died from drug overdoses overall in the U.S. in the 12-month period ending in July 2023 (the latest data available via the U.S. Centers for Disease Control), making it the leading cause of injury-related deaths. California accounts for approximately 20% of that statistic. To put those numbers in perspective, more people have died due to opioid overdose in the last year alone than the number of U.S. military personnel killed during the Korean, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars combined.

To make matters worse, youth under 24 account for the fastest rise in drug deaths.  In California where fentanyl deaths were rare just five years ago, a young person under 24 is now dying every 12 hours. The biggest factor attributing to this danger is the undisclosed addition of fentanyl to other drugs which can, and does, often lend itself to fentanyl poisoning and death. Among teenagers, overdose deaths linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl tripled in the past two years.

Like its predecessor, SB 21 requires that a written advisory or admonishment be issued to a person convicted of a fentanyl-related drug offense notifying the person of the danger of manufacturing and distributing controlled substances and of potential future criminal liability if another person dies as a result of that person’s actions. New to 2024, SB 21 also requires those convicted to complete a mandatory drug treatment and/or drug court program, depending upon applicability. 

“Since I first teamed up with Sen. Tom Umberg to sponsor Alexandra’s Law last year, thousands more Californians have lost their lives to illicit fentanyl,” San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said. “Enough is enough. I’m proud to stand with Sen. Umberg and the families of victims to reintroduce this important legislation that sends a clear message to dealers that they will face serious consequences if they continue to peddle this deadly poison in our communities.”

When Driving Under the Influence (DUI) deaths peaked in the 1990s, the public demanded swift and comprehensive action by lawmakers.  The Legislature rose to this occasion by passing a series of measures exemplifying a holistic and multi-pronged approach as a response.  By addressing DUI deaths in a comprehensive manner through education, law enforcement, and harm reduction angles, California was able to turn the escalation of DUI-deaths around and preserve public safety.

“We will never get ahead of the fentanyl epidemic until those spreading this poison within our communities face real accountability. Alexandra’s Law is a good start. I’m proud that Senator Umberg and Mayor Gloria have taken on this fight,” said Matt Capelouto, President of DrugInducedHomicide.Org and father to Alexandra, for whom the measure is named. “Alexandra’s Law is a common sense approach which doesn’t aim to charge murder, it aims to save lives. We want to prevent a drug dealer from becoming a death dealer. It’s only if a drug dealer chooses to ignore a fair warning and someone dies as a result of their continued action that they can be charged with murder.”

Senator Umberg concluded by saying, “We can’t let this issue go. I can’t face anymore parents grieving their lost daughters and sons without doing everything we can to stop this fentanyl poisoning. We can’t wait for another 25,000 Californians to die from this poisoning epidemic.  We simply must use every tool possible to address this crisis – prevention, education, treatment AND stopping repeat drug dealers who poison our kids.”

***The fact sheet for SB 21 is attached, for further information.***

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Senator Thomas J. Umberg represents the 34th Senate District, which includes the cities of Anaheim, Buena Park, Fullerton, Garden Grove, La Habra, Long Beach, Orange, Placentia, Santa Ana, and East and South Whittier. Umberg is a retired U.S. Army Colonel, former federal prosecutor, and small businessman. He and his wife, Brigadier General Robin Umberg, USA (ret.), live in Orange County.