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Sacramento Snapshot: Those who report fentanyl in drugs could be protected if bill continues to advance

June 19, 2023

Editor’s note: Sacramento Snapshot is a weekly series during the legislative session detailing what Orange County’s representatives in the Assembly and Senate are working on — from committee work to bill passages and more.

It hasn’t been an easy year to pass fentanyl-related legislation in the California Legislature. But one effort, meant to prevent more overdoses and deaths by extending protections for people requesting medical or police assistance, is finding success.

Sen. Tom Umberg, D-Santa Ana, is proposing a bill, SB-250, that would expand California’s Good Samaritan law — which protects people seeking medical assistance for a drug-related overdose for themselves or another person under certain circumstances — to include those reporting to medical professionals or law enforcement opioid-related overdoses or substances that test positive for fentanyl.

The idea is to extend immunity to those who are using fentanyl test strips, small strips of paper that can detect the presence of fentanyl in various drugs, and report the contaminated substance to law enforcement.

Having already received unanimous support in the Senate, Umberg’s bill cleared the Assembly Public Safety Committee, which held up other fentanyl-related legislation, last week with full support.

“We must tackle this epidemic from all sides to prevent more overdoses and deaths,” said Umberg.

Earlier this year, Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer, a Los Angeles Democrat who chairs the Public Safety Committee, put a hold on fentanyl legislation, saying there were “duplicative efforts” that only offered “temporary solutions.” Instead, he wanted a broader hearing to address the overall crisis, “not just the criminality portion.”

While some smaller bills have seen movement this legislative session, the overarching theme for fentanyl-related measures is that public safety committees in either chamber are not creating new laws or penalties.

In other news

• A group of senators OK’d legislation last week that would require the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to incarcerate parents near their children. The department already takes family location into consideration when it comes to where prisoners serve their sentences, but there is no requirement to place someone close to their child.

Children of incarcerated parents, according to the Legal Services for Prisoners with Children group, are more likely than other children to suffer a range of negative outcomes, ranging from antisocial behavior to drug use. The LSPC says regular contact between children and their incarcerated parents leads to improved family reunification, as well as lower rates of parole violations and recidivism, following a prisoner’s release.

The bill from Assemblymember Matt Haney, D-San Francisco already cleared the lower chamber with no opposition. It most recently won the approval of the Senate Public Safety Committee.

• An Assembly committee approved legislation from Sen. Catherine Blakespear, a Democrat who represents south Orange County, that would require gun sellers to post warnings about the risk of suicide or death or injuries during a domestic dispute while a gun is present in the home. It also requires the signage to include the “988” phone number for suicide and crisis prevention.

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Sacramento Snapshot: Those who report fentanyl in drugs could be protected if bill continues to advance

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