In Orange County, fentanyl-related deaths increased 1,067% from 2016 through 2020 - from 37 to 432. San Bernardino County could not immediately provide the number of fentanyl related deaths in the county in 20. вЂњMultiple times a day we are responding to cases where someone is unconscious or under the influence of fentanyl, typically being poisoned because they thought they were getting something else.вЂќ вЂњI canвЂ™t even venture to guess how many lives weвЂ™ve saved in the last year because we do this on a daily basis,вЂќ Bianco said. He said fentanyl overdoses in his county have become such a problem that he outfitted every one of his deputies with naloxone, or Narcan, an over-the-counter nasal spray that is used to revive unconscious people who have overdosed on drugs. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said the number of confirmed fentanyl deaths in the county in 2021 is nearly 400 thus far, but he anticipates that number to increase to more than 500 when toxicology results in other suspected overdose cases come in. вЂњAll of us on the stage today have resolved, in one way or another, to fight back against this scourge.вЂќ Our citizens are dying at an alarming rate because of fentanyl,вЂќ Hestrin said. вЂњThose numbers are similar to what weвЂ™re seeing across the region. Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said that since 2016, the number of fentanyl-related deaths in his county skyrocketed by more than 800%. вЂњWe need to learn from the failed strategies of the past, in order to find solutions for the future,вЂќ Bastian said. In more than three decades of increased drug penalties against criminal defendants, he said, drugs have become more potent, cheaper and easier to access.

вЂњWe have been down this road before: We know that increased penalties for drug offenses do not save lives,вЂќ said Alex Bastian, special advisor to Gascon, in an email.

Missing at WednesdayвЂ™s news conference was Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon, whose position on the fentanyl problem reflects the other side of the debate. вЂњIf you peddle fentanyl, and you kill somebody in my county, we will absolutely consider charging you with murder. Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said his office has now implemented the same admonishment to first-time convicted drug dealers that Melendez is pushing for in her legislation. San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said his office has charged one man with murder in a fentanyl poisoning case involving a Chino Hills teen last April, and has partnered with the San Bernardino County SheriffвЂ™s Department to form a fentanyl task force to respond to and investigate suspected fentanyl overdoses. Since the Riverside County District AttorneyвЂ™s Office led the charge to file murder charges against people in fentanyl-related deaths (the office has charged 11 people with murder in 10 cases to date), prosecutors in Orange and San Bernardino counties have followed suit. вЂњShe was poisoned, and this was murder,вЂќ Capelouto said. Her mother found her dead in her bed, two days before Christmas. She purchased what she thought was oxycodone via Snapchat. WeвЂ™re being poisoned from within.вЂќДЄlexandra Capelouto was attending college out of state on a scholarship when she returned to her Temecula home to celebrate the holidays with her family in December 2019. вЂњThis is a war not being fought with guns and bullets. вЂњSince SB 350 was rejected, California went from over 4,000 fentanyl deaths in 2020 to what is expected to be nearly 10,000 deaths by the time 2021 statistics are available,вЂќ Capelouto said during the news conference. Matt Capelouto, whose 20-year-old daughter, Alexandra, died of a fentanyl overdose in December 2019 and who is the namesake of MelendezвЂ™s proposed bill, dubbed вЂњAlexandraвЂ™s Law,вЂќ called on California voters to get SB 350 on the ballot as an initiative and put it to a vote. MelendezвЂ™s comments came a day after the Senate Public Safety Committee on Tuesday - for the second time since last year - rejected her Senate Bill 350, which would allow repeat drug dealers to be charged with murder under California law, especially those who sell fentanyl to unsuspecting buyers who die after using the synthetic opiate.

Snapchat its to root out dealers