Stanislaus officials wonder why tougher fentanyl laws are rejected in state Legislature

State representatives from the Central Valley are proposing legislation to combat the fentanyl crisis, but they’re running into roadblocks in Sacramento.

Last week, the Assembly Public Safety Committee declined to hear a bill proposing tougher penalties for dealers convicted of selling the lethal street drug.

Deputy District Attorney Patrick Hogan of Stanislaus was outspoken after the committee snubbed AB 1058 by Assemblyman Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, which would increase penalties for possession of 28.35 grams of fentanyl. A mother who lost her son to fentanyl poisoning wasn’t allowed to testify before the committee.

“If you don’t think that is the right proposal than what is the proposal?” Hogan said in an interview Monday. “You are the Legislature and what are you doing? That is the question I would have for them.”

For consecutive years, advocates for stronger fentanyl laws, some of them relatives of overdose victims, have been frustrated in backing state legislation to crack down on illegal fentanyl, a synthetic opioid so potent that 3 milligrams can kill.

Lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled Legislature have turned a cold shoulder to a law-and-order solution to the crisis, as fentanyl poisoning deaths continue to climb. Stanislaus County had 123 deaths last year, up from 103 in 2021 and 71 in 2020.

About every three days, someone died from consuming opioids last year in Stanislaus County.

Reginald Jones-Sawyer, D-Los Angeles, who chairs the Assembly Public Safety Committee, released a statement quoted by KCRA in Sacramento.

“The fentanyl issue requires comprehensive input from a variety of experts and stakeholders in order to establish a united approach to solving the matter,” the statement said. “I intend to work on this issue by bringing those who understand the causation, prevention and treatment components together with policy makers to ensure we have a tactical solution in hand.”

State Sen. Marie Alvarado-Gil, a moderate Democrat, has support for SB 226 from local district attorneys in her district that includes Stanislaus, Merced, Tuolumne, Placer and nine other counties. Her bill would allow prosecution on felony charges if a person possesses fentanyl while carrying a loaded firearm.

Right now, methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and PCP are among illegal drugs that can trigger the firearm enhancement and a state prison sentence on conviction. But fentanyl is not on the list of drugs.

Alvarado-Gil said her bill has received a chilly reception in the Legislature.

“Our Legislature in both houses has been reluctant to hear any bill that creates an enhancement for criminal behavior,” Alvarado-Gil said. “I hope this gives moderate-leaning Democrats the opportunity to allow fentanyl legislation to move forward.”

The senator said recent fentanyl bills have run into a pact among key committee members not to consider any type of felony enhancements. Her fentanyl bill is awaiting a hearing before the senate Public Safety Committee.

“This mindset of lawlessness needs to stop,” Alvarado-Gil said. “We need to hold the Legislature accountable to make sound decisions to protect our community.”

The Sacramento Bee reported a bipartisan bill that would require courts to admonish convicted fentanyl dealers failed to make it through the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday. SB 44, co-authored by Sens. Thomas Umberg, D-Santa Ana, and Rosilicie Ochoa Bogh, R-Yucaipa, said convicted dealers would be warned about future criminal liability if their actions resulted in another person’s death, similar to warnings issued to those convicted of drunken driving.

Stanislaus County District Attorney Jeff Laguero said the bills written by Alvarado-Gil and others would serve more to close loopholes in criminal law that benefit fentanyl dealers. The bills would not send convicted dealers to prison for decades. It’s difficult to prosecute fentanyl cases under current state law, Laguero said.

“We are doing what we can with the tools we have,” he said. “We are trying to meet the epidemic head-on.”

Under current law, a person prosecuted on a charge of selling the drug may have possessed one pound of fentanyl, or around 3,000 doses, and the maximum court sentence would be four years in county jail. Before long, the jail time would turn into mandatory supervision by the county Probation Department.

Hogan said the criminal justice system can’t deter fentanyl dealers with a threat of mandatory supervision.

Hogan prosecuted a fentanyl dealer on a murder charge after he sold a fatal dose of the drug. In those cases, the court requires evidence the defendant knew that selling the drug would result in the person’s death. Hogan said the case was settled on a plea of involuntary manslaughter.

“They are really difficult cases,” Hogan said. “It requires a lot of work before you feel comfortable charging the person with (a homicide charge).”

Alvarado-Gil said current state laws don’t have an answer for the brazen tactics of those selling fentanyl. In a press release for SB 226, she said criminal organizations introduced brightly colored “rainbow fentanyl” pills to make them attractive to children.

More adults 18 to 45 years old in the United States are dying from illegal fentanyl than the death toll from automobile accidents, gun violence and suicides.