Fentanyl Bill From RivCo State Sen. Melendez Fails In Committee

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A state bill authored by a Riverside County lawmaker that would have seriously punished those who provide deadly illegal narcotics failed in the state Senate Public Safety Committee Tuesday.

Senate Bill 350 authored by Sen. Melissa Melendez (R-Lake Elsinore) isn't going anywhere for now, but the lawmaker vowed to continue moving forward.

The "outcome isn’t what the supporters of SB 350 or I wanted, but we’re not done fighting to ensure drug dealers are held accountable for the lives they take," Melendez said in a released statement. "This is only the beginning and the fight is not over.”

The bill would have required an advisory to convicted drug dealers notifying them that their actions can kill. The paper trail would make it easier for a narcotics-induced manslaughter or murder charge to stick on a repeat drug offender whose illicit product leads to death.

Known as a “Watson Advisory,” the notification is the same as that provided to people who kill someone in drunken driving cases, according to Melendez.

The bill would have applied to any illegal substance, but fentanyl was the main driver. The synthetic opioid is now involved in approximately 42 percent of the drug-caused deaths in Riverside County, the DEA's L.A. Division told Patch late last month.

Dubbed Alexandra's Law, SB 350 is named in memory of 20-year-old Temecula resident Alexandra Capelouto. She died Dec. 23, 2019, from fentanyl poisoning after she took a pill marketed to her as oxycodone by a drug dealer, said her parents, Matt and Christine Capelouto.

Drug dealers have a financial incentive to sell fentanyl to people like Alexandra, Melendez and law enforcement agencies contend.

“A little fentanyl goes a long way and makes them a lot of money. Middle schoolers, high-schoolers, college kids, teachers, babysitters, truck drivers; they’re all dying from being poisoned unknowingly by drugs made to look like a prescription pill," Melendez said.

The way in which fentanyl makes its way into counterfeit pills shows why so many are dying from the substance, and recent Riverside County fentanyl busts show just how profitable the cheap substance is.

For example, an investigation earlier year by the Riverside County Gang Impact Team led to the seizure in Riverside of 2 kilograms of fentanyl with an estimated street value of $200,000. Despite the relatively low dollar figure, that amount of fentanyl is enough to make 1 million — potentially lethal — fake pills, according to the Riverside County District Attorney's Office, which oversaw the investigation.

That bust was proceeded by several others, including two in Southwest Riverside County.

In failing to move SB 350 along, the Legislature "had an opportunity to prevent future fentanyl deaths and instead chose to side with drug dealers," Melendez said.

In its argument against the bill, the California Public Defenders Association told the Senate committee, "CPDA sympathizes with and understands the unintended consequences and impact that the use of unregulated illegal drugs can have on the lives of users, as so many of our clients have had problems with drugs. However, SB 350 — by creating another basis for a murder charge — is an attempt to resurrect the failed public policy of the past and return to mass incarceration as a solution for societal problems."

The CDPD's opposition continued, "From our experience as public defenders, we know that many of those who engage in the illegal drug trade are often low-level users of drugs themselves. To punish them for the unintended consequences of engaging in illegal narcotic sales and for outcomes they never intended is contrary to sound public policy and humane treatment in our criminal justice system."

Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco has promised to investigate fentanyl deaths as homicides whenever possible. Currently, the county is moving forward with the prosecution of at least four men in three separate cases involving fentanyl-related deaths. Samuel Leo Mussaw, 23, of San Jacinto; Jeremiah Carlton, 18, of Canyon Lake; Raymond Tyrrell, 18, of French Valley; and Joseph Michael Costanza, 21, of Eastvale have all been charged with second-degree murder this year. Their cases are pending.

Melendez represents the 28th Senate District which includes the cities of Blythe, Canyon Lake, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, Lake Elsinore, La Quinta, Murrieta, Temecula, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, and Wildomar.