Among them is a bipartisan bill voted down in the Senate Public Safety Committee last month that would require people convicted of distributing certain illicit drugs be given a warning that they could be convicted of homicide if a person dies as a result of drugs that person furnishes. The state has a similar policy on DUIs.
“Everyone is trying to figure out how to do something about this historic, deadly scourge on our communities,” said Matt Capeluto, whose college-age daughter Alexandra died from fentanyl in 2019 and who inspired the bill, SB 44.
“Except the California Senate and Assembly Public Safety Committees,” he said. “That’s so hard for me to say. But it’s true.”
Nearly 6,000 Californians died from fentanyl overdose in 2021, about 83% of all opioid-related deaths that year, according to data from the state public health…
