Prop. 36 can restore accountability to California's fentanyl crisis

In November, California voters will decide whether to reclassify certain theft and drug penalties and reverse a 2014 criminal justice reform bill, Proposition 47. Below, a formerly homeless man believes Proposition 36 will create both accountability and compassion to address the fentanyl crisis. The opposing view: A formerly incarcerated Californian worries that the kind of rehabilitation programs that changed his life will be lost if funds are spent filling prisons.

With over 900,000 signatures, Proposition 36 was approved for the November ballot in California.

In short, this ballot initiative will reform aspects of Assembly Bill 47, which in 2014 reclassified several “quality of life-affecting” crimes as misdemeanors rather than felonies. The most obvious were shoplifting – where the misdemeanor threshold was raised to $950 per offense – and drug possession.

The goal of these changes was to reduce incarceration rates and create a more equitable response to people of color, who have historically been overrepresented in prisons and jails.

Have these changes worked? If you look at the data, not only is the answer no, but shoplifting of less than $950 has increased 28% over the past five years. Have these changes worked in terms of drug possession? While arrests didn't necessarily decrease, referrals to diversion programs did increase. According to the California Policy Lab, a research institute at the University of California, in 2021, 55% of people released into diversion programs in San Francisco reoffended.

While this experiment was going on, something else was happening: Fentanyl was showing up in our communities, replacing heroin on the streets and sparking an unabated overdose and poisoning crisis that contributed to about 11,000 deaths in California two years ago and 107,000 overdose deaths in the United States last year.

In cities like San Francisco, the drug crisis has exploded. An estimated 8,300 people are homeless and 51% suffer from drug or alcohol addiction. Overall, California saw one of the largest increases in drug deaths in the country in 2023.

For me, the main reason we need Prop. 36 is the fentanyl crisis. I am a formerly homeless heroin and fentanyl addict recovering. I was homeless on the streets of San Francisco in 2018 and witnessed the introduction of fentanyl and its effects first hand.

Fifteen people I once knew have since died of drug overdoses. Yet, as I walk the streets of San Francisco today, I still recognize drug dealers I knew six years ago. Have they been arrested multiple times? Yes. But because of Prop. 47 and possible diversion and plea agreements, they are still around. Despite multiple drug trafficking convictions, they show no remorse, no regrets, and the death toll remains alarmingly high.

Prop. 36 will restore accountability. Not only will it hold fentanyl dealers accountable, but it will also give them a warning or admonition that if they continue to sell fentanyl and someone dies of an overdose or poisoning, they can be charged with murder if convicted. This is called “Alexandra's Law,” enshrined in Prop. 36, and named after Alexandra Capeluto, who tragically died of drug poisoning after taking what she thought was an oxycodone pill but was actually fentanyl.

The dealer knew about it, but didn't tell her what was in it and now she is no longer with us.

Many Californians don't realize it, but the drug market has changed. Dealers with foreign supply chains are no longer viewed as exploitative, and overdose and poisoning deaths linked to their product are met with essentially “thoughts and prayers” from politicians in Sacramento – rather than substantive action that helps level the playing field between responsibility and compassion.

That's possible too. If you're on the streets using drugs and stealing to fund your addiction, you should be held accountable for the theft. But since you're addicted to drugs, you should be able to avoid jail or a long prison sentence by taking up the option of treatment. If you complete treatment, your criminal record will be expunged and the charges will be dropped. That's the definition of restorative justice, literally.

Believe me, I was someone who was offered a similar choice: Most will choose treatment and a way off the streets. That is what most of us who are or have been homeless and addicted really want.

Prop. 36 offers real ways out for people struggling with addiction and in trouble with the justice system. That way out is recovery. Under Prop. 47, the way out is all too often a straight line back to the streets.

It doesn't have to be one or the other, as critics would have you believe, there is a third alternative, and that alternative is treatment. Let's give people a chance, because I needed that chance once.

Under the Prop. 47 criminal justice system, it took six arrests – yes, six – before I served three months in jail. That was long enough to detox and make better choices. That was the beginning of my road to recovery. Under Prop. 36, it would be three arrests on similar charges.

If Prop. 36 had been enacted six years ago, it could have meant less time on the streets, less time addicted to drugs, and less time away from my family. Is that tough? Absolutely. But drug abuse and having to steal every day to support your addiction is tougher.

Is treatment and recovery worth it? Ask my wife and children, who have their husband and father back. Responsibility and compassion together saved my life. We can have both.