Governor Newsom attempts to address ongoing fentanyl crisis

The California governor announced the new partnership with the California National Guard and the California Highway Patrol and received support from San Francisco’s mayor and police chief. The collaboration is meant to target those who supply and sell fentanyl in the city. Graphic by SUKHMAN SAHOTA, art director

California cities are currently undergoing a fentanyl crisis and have seen a spike in overdoses since 2010.

There has been an increase in overdose deaths by over 40% between January and March 2023 in San Francisco. The city also has the second-highest overdose rate in the nation, as well as the second-highest fentanyl-caused death rate in 2020, according to the Office of Governor Gavin Newsom.

A legal partnership created by Newsom, involving the California National Guard (CalGuard) and the California Highway Patrol (CHP), plans to help stop the fentanyl crisis in San Francisco. 

Newsom announced in late April that he is directing a partnership between San Francisco Police Department (SFPD), the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office (SFDA), CalGuard and CHP. The partnership is designed to create a new operation to strengthen law enforcement and public safety in regard to San Francisco's fentanyl crisis. The partnership also involves CHP assigning people and resources to assist the SFPD in technical work, training and trafficking enforcement. 

Fentanyl is a drug usually prescribed to people struggling with post-surgery pain. However, it is highly addictive and has been sold illegally across the nation. When taken periodically and in high doses, the brain builds a tolerance. This tolerance makes it hard for a person to feel pleasure from anything besides the drug, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the operation would specifically address drug traffickers and drug suppliers, and it is not meant to target those just using fentanyl legally. The CalGuard Counterdrug Task Force has experience targeting the trafficking process and will use this experience to assist the SFPD. 

Houseless people have been significantly impacted by drugs such as fentanyl. Between 2019 and 2021, the death rate of homeless people in LA County increased 55%, with the leading cause of death being overdoses, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“That’s why we’re launching this operation,” Newsom wrote in an April 28 press release. “This is not about criminalizing people struggling with substance use — this is about taking down the prominent poison peddlers and their connected crime rings that prey on the most vulnerable, and harm our residents. While it’s true that San Francisco is safer than many cities its size, we cannot let rampant crime continue.”

San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said in an interview with CBS that the National Guard is expected to help the department with their frequent arrests made regarding fentanyl.

“They will help us do what we need to do,” Scott said. “We make arrests day in and day out, but it’s really hard to hold ground, and we need to get it under control and that’s exactly what we plan to do.” 

In an interview with CBS, the Mayor of San Francisco London Breed specifically spoke about targeting the source of the drug rather than the users themselves. 

“We also want to be able to cut off the source of these drugs (and look at) how this fentanyl that is killing people in alarming numbers is even getting to our neighborhoods and communities in the first place,” Breed said. “This is definitely something that is going to help make a difference.” 

Emma Davis, a freshman studying political science, applauded Newsom’s plans to target suppliers rather than users of fentanyl.

“I appreciate that Newsom stated that law enforcement would focus on suppliers of the drug and not people struggling with substance abuse,” Davis said in an interview with The Panther. “Focusing on rehabilitation and recovery for people struggling is important.” 

While she still thinks that there are many questions to be answered about Newsom’s plan, Natalie Peterson-Hunt, a freshman biology major, said that collaboration is the key for it to succeed.

“I would need to know the specifics of the plan to determine whether his plan will help. For instance, how will the California National Guard work collaboratively with local police without creating tension?” Peterson-Hunt told The Panther. “Collaborating with as many people that are involved in the situation as possible — local law enforcement, politicians, citizens, doctors and families of those struggling — is necessary to form a plan that will benefit everyone.”

San Francisco is just one of many cities in California that is currently undergoing a fentanyl crisis. In Orange County, fentanyl deaths have increased 1,000% from 2017 to 2022, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. Last year, District Attorney Todd Spitzer launched an anti-fentanyl ad campaign on Orange County Transit Authority (OCTA) buses to inform the public about the dangers of using the drug. 

Spitzer also warned defendants charged with drug-related crimes that they could be charged with murder if arrested again. This advisement was put into place in order to hold dealers accountable for the deaths of their clients who overdosed. 

Since fentanyl crises can be found in many cities in California, Newsom’s operation could bring hope to them as well if it succeeds. 

“It is obvious that San Francisco is struggling with a fentanyl crisis,” Peterson-Hunt said. “Something must be done.”