ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Amid the ongoing fentanyl epidemic that is expected to see nearly 10,000 deaths in California during 2021 when all toxicology reports are in, victims’ families are working to bring the state’s plight to voters if the Legislature does not act.
On Jan. 3, a woman was found dead inside an Anaheim motel room. Two men were found, dead, nearby the scene. A fourth was revived with Narcan. He remains in critical condition. In January, police reported an increase in apparent overdose-related deaths in Orange County and across the Golden State. Statewide, Fentanyl deaths have increased by 1,513 percent since 2016. In orange County, Fentanyl deaths are up 1,000 percent since 2016, according to the Orange County District attorney‘s Office.
Orange County District attorney Todd Spitzer says “dealers are essentially handing a loaded gun to unsuspecting victims knowing that they will probably die, and they don’t care.”
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Fentanyl is cheap, it’s easy to get and it’s killing people who have no idea they were taking it, according to the OCDA. Spitzer is among the Southern California prosecutors seeking to charge drug dealers with murder if they are convicted for selling or making drugs with fentanyl which leads to death.
During a news conference Wednesday at the Riverside County District attorney‘s Office, leaders and victims’ families gathered to push for change surrounding fentanyl poisoning deaths. A simultaneous news conference was held at the Sacramento County District attorney‘s Office on the same topic, with DA’s from Fresno, Placer and Yolo counties joining.
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“We need a change in the law,” said Riverside County District attorney Mike Hestrin. “Our citizens are dying at an alarming rate because of fentanyl.”
Near 40 percent of street drugs now contain fentanyl, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said during the conference. The synthetic opioid is used in everything from counterfeit medications to heroin, and the reason is that fentanyl is cheaper than anything out there, the sheriff explained.
It only takes about 2 milligrams of fentanyl to kill a human being, and in many cases buyers don’t even know the “medication” or recreational drug they’ve purchased on the black market is laced with the synthetic opioid that can be purchased with a babysitter’s pay.
“If there ever was a time to use drugs safely, those days are gone,” Bianco said. “It’s all about profit, it’s all about greed.”
Riverside County’s 2021 fentanyl deaths will likely exceed 500 when all pending toxicology reports are in. Orange County District attorney Todd Spitzer said Wednesday that 2021 fentanyl deaths may top 1,000 in his jurisdiction.
A state bill has sought to tackle the fentanyl epidemic via a legal tool that could help prosecute drug dealers in cases of death. Senate Bill 350 authored by Sen. Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) was first introduced early last year.
If passed, SB 350 would treat drug dealers like drunken drivers. In California, a first-time DUI conviction comes with an admonishment that warns how driving under the influence can cause death. If a convicted DUI driver later causes a fatality while under the influence, that person can be charged with second-degree murder because there is “implied malice” due to the prior warning — the driver knew the danger. It’s a legal mechanism used to successfully prosecute repeat DUI offenders who cause death.
No comparable legal tool exists for drug dealers. Senate Bill 350 sought to change that by requiring a similar warning at the time of a drug conviction, but the proposal has failed in the state’s Public Safety committee.
“We’re not giving up,” said Melendez, who was present at Wednesday’s news conference.
While repeat DUI drivers are being charged with second-degree murder in fatal crashes, fentanyl dealers whose products kill are treated with more leniency even when buyers die, Melendez explained.
Senate Bill 350 was authored with prodding from Temecula dad Matt Capelouto, whose daughter Alexandra died in 2019 from fentanyl poisoning when she was home from college during winter break.
“She was poisoned to death,” said Capelouto, who spoke at Wednesday’s news conference. She took what she thought was an oxycodone pill purchased online. It was a counterfeit containing fentanyl and it killed her. She was 20 years old.
“I guarantee you she didn’t want to die,” Capelouto said, noting that before his daughter’s death, she excitedly showed her parents the Christmas gifts she had purchased for her siblings.
“Nobody’s listening to us,” Capelouto continued, his voice cracking. “We need your help.”
Capelouto has changed the conversation around fentanyl. Bianco, Hestrin and Spitzer no longer call fentanyl deaths “overdoses,” but rather poisonings. San Bernardino County District attorney Jason Anderson has joined the chorus and was present Wednesday.
In Riverside County, Hestrin’s office is currently prosecuting 10 fentanyl murder cases, but the DA said the outcomes are uncertain and the investigations are difficult without a tool like SB 350 in place.
Spitzer’s office is administering warnings at the time of a drug conviction, and Riverside County is working to do the same, but all insist a state law with teeth is needed.
Capelouto shamed California lawmakers on Wednesday and said he and supporters are launching an effort to bring an initiative like SB 350 to the state’s voters.
“Continuing to ignore the issue won’t stop people from dying and inaction is morally unconscionable,” Capelouto said. “We won’t stand for kicking the can down the road in Sacramento any longer. It’s our intention to ask Californians to vote on the matter by putting SB 350 on the ballot.”
Capelouto and the nonprofit Drug-Induced Homicide have launched the One Pill Kills campaign at onepillkills.com to raise money that will help bring the initiative to California voters.
“The drugs of yesterday are not the drugs of today,” Capelouto said. “Today’s drugs will alter your brain chemistry, hook you faster, and as we’ve now seen in all too many cases, kill you. Though many of us can’t understand why some resort to drugs to deal with mental illness, anxiety, stress, or whatever, I can say they were most likely seeking relief, not death.
“Synthetic drugs like fentanyl made with chemicals sourced from China and distributed by cartels and drug dealers within our communities should be viewed as a chemical weapon attack,” Capelouto continued. “Our citizens are being poisoned. Fentanyl is a weapon of mass destruction and should be treated as such. Those involved anywhere in the supply chain need to be held accountable.”
Related:
Huntington Beach Cops Treated For Fentanyl Exposure Overnight
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