THE BUZZ: After months of staying largely silent on efforts to raise penalties for fentanyl dealers, Gov. Gavin Newsom is now paving the way to treat them like murderers. Newsom on Friday announced a new task force of state and San Francisco city officials to treat opioid-linked deaths similar to homicides. The governor has already devoted a good deal of attention (and state resources) to the problem this year, but the announcement of the task force marks a shift from progressive efforts to roll back some of the drug sentencing policies adopted across the U.S. in recent decades. The task force will gather evidence and process intelligence with the goal of disrupting the opioid distribution networks behind the overdose epidemic in the city. “The opioid crisis has claimed too many, and fentanyl traffickers must be held accountable including, as appropriate, for murder,” the governor said in a statement. It is precisely the kind of thing that progressive lawmakers in Sacramento didn’t want to do this year — much to the frustration of victims’ families, Republicans and some moderate Democrats. The legislature twice rejected a bill, SB 44, known as Alexandra’s Law, which would have required courts to notify convicted dealers that they could face murder charges if their actions led to someone’s death in the future. Bill opponents, including Bay Area Sens. Scott Wiener and Nancy Skinner, questioned whether the measure would reduce overdose deaths and worried it could result in unintended consequences. Newsom avoided weighing in on the bill when it was moving through the legislature. He's now embracing the call for tougher treatment of fentanyl dealers. Other Democratic officials, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed, share this view. “We must treat the trafficking and sale of fentanyl more severely and people must be put on notice that pushing this drug could lead to homicide charges,” Breed said in a statement. Prosecuting fentanyl dealers for murder is not a novel concept. In Placer County, authorities this year convicted a 21-year-old of second-degree murder in the fentanyl death of a 15-year-old girl — the first conviction of its kind. Newsom’s office said efforts similar to the one in SF have proven successful in other cities, including San Diego and Fresno. San Francisco city leaders have taken a tougher tack on crime in recent months as retail theft and drug use continue to take a toll. Breed last month also raised eyebrows among liberal allies for proposing drug tests for those receiving public assistance. Mano Raju, San Francisco’s public defender, blasted Newsom and city leaders for their new approach to fentanyl overdoses, calling it “another step in the wrong direction toward the continued revival of the failed War on Drugs in SF.” GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook.
| 
