Middle and high school students across California will be protected by a new law requiring lifesaving prevention and response resources for fentanyl overdoses under legislation signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday.
Newsom announced that he had signed Senate Bill 10 or Melanie’s Law, introduced by Sen. Dave Cortese, D-San Jose, which aims to prevent and respond to youth fentanyl overdoses through mandated school safety plans requiring prevention, response, training, education and awareness.
According to Cortese’s office, fentanyl is responsible for one in five youth deaths in California. It added that in Santa Clara County, fentanyl deaths spiked by 863 percent between 2018 and 2021.
SB 10 mandates that every public school in California provide training to school employees on opioid prevention and lifesaving response under a formal plan known as a Comprehensive School Safety Plan, or CSSP.
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Additionally, the bill establishes a state framework to ensure that all students and adults understand the growing risk of youth fentanyl exposure, and have access to the resources needed to prevent and respond to fentanyl poisoning and overdoses.
“When we wrote this bill one year ago, we knew that it would be our most significant piece of legislation in 2023. SB 10 was our top priority because fentanyl has left a trail of devastation across California, and our bill establishes a series of concrete solutions to protect young people,” Cortese said in a statement Friday.
“We created a coalition of parents and educators unwilling to stand by while another young life is lost. … As we celebrate SB 10 becoming law, we honor Melanie Ramos, a bright teenager who lost her life to fentanyl. Melanie’s Law will save young lives in California for decades to come,” the senator added.
SB 10 is named in honor of Melanie Ramos, a 15-year-old who overdosed on fentanyl and died in the bathroom of her high school in Hollywood in September 2022. At the time, Ramos and her friend had no idea they were taking fentanyl, Cortese’s office said.
“Melanie was an amazing, talented young person. Her memory lives with her friends and family, and her legacy will be felt across California. I miss her dearly, but her memory and my love for her has given me the strength to speak so that other mothers will not have to suffer what I am suffering,” said Elena Perez, mother of Melanie Ramos, in a statement Friday.
“I thank Governor Newsom for signing Melanie’s Law. I ask every middle and high school employee in California to do the overdose prevention training and have Narcan available. Let’s please protect every young person,” Perez added.
SB 10 would also give school staff, students and families information about the growing risk of opioids, informational material and safety advice, in partnership with the California Department of Education.
Support for SB 10 also includes Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, the California Teachers Association, the California Federation of Teachers, the Santa Clara County School Boards Association, the Los Angeles County Office of Education, ACLU California and the California School Nurses Organization.
BBC reports that 25 China-based firms and individuals are facing United States sanctions for their alleged production of chemicals used to produce fentanyl.
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Registered nurse Kathy Lalli treats Ellwood Warren’s injuries at the Kensington Hospital wound care outreach van, parked in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 23, 2023. In humans, xylazine can cause breathing and heart rates to drop. It’s also linked to severe skin ulcers and abscesses, which can lead to infections, rotting tissue and amputations. Experts disagree on the exact cause of the wounds, which are much deeper than those seen with other injectable drugs.
A box of Narcan sits in the Savage Sisters’ community outreach storefront in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 24, 2023. Generically known as Naloxone, the medication used revive people who have stopped breathing, doesn’t reverse the effects of xylazine. Philadelphia officials stress that naloxone should still be administered in all cases of suspected overdose, since xylazine is almost always found in combination with fentanyl.
People gather outside the Savage Sisters’ community outreach storefront in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 24, 2023. Xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that’s moving through the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, causing gruesome skin wounds and scrambling longstanding methods for treating addiction and reversing overdoses.
Volunteer registered nurse Jennifer D’Angelo treats a person’s skin wounds the Savage Sisters’ community outreach storefront in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 24, 2023. Xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that’s moving through the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, causing gruesome skin wounds and scrambling longstanding methods for treating addiction and reversing overdoses.
Sarah Laurel, founder of Savage Sisters, speaks with community members at her outreach storefront in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 24, 2023. “Nobody asked for xylazine in the drug supply,” said Laurel. “Before anybody knew it, the community was chemically dependent on it. So now, yes, people do seek it out.”
Sarah Laurel, founder of Savage Sisters, speaks during an interview at her community outreach storefront in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 24, 2023. “Nobody asked for xylazine in the drug supply,” said Laurel. “Before anybody knew it, the community was chemically dependent on it. So now, yes, people do seek it out.”
Dominic Rodriguez speaks with registered nurse Kathy Lalli after she treated his skin injuries at the Kensington Hospital wound care outreach van, parked in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 23, 2023. Xylazine’s effects are easy to spot: users experience a lethargic, trance-like state and sometimes black out, exposing themselves to robbery or assault. “It’s a delayed reaction, I could be walking down the street, it’s 45 minutes later,” says Rodriguez, who is homeless and battling addiction. “Then I wake up, trying to piece together what happened.”
Dominic Rodriguez walks away after receiving treatment at the Kensington Hospital wound care outreach van, parked in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 23, 2023. Xylazine’s effects are easy to spot: users experience a lethargic, trance-like state and sometimes black out, exposing themselves to robbery or assault. “It’s a delayed reaction, I could be walking down the street, it’s 45 minutes later,” says Rodriguez, who is homeless and battling addiction. “Then I wake up, trying to piece together what happened.”
Sarah Laurel, founder of Savage Sisters, checks on a community member at her outreach storefront in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 24, 2023. “Nobody asked for xylazine in the drug supply,” said Sarah Laurel, founder of Savage Sisters, a Philadelphia outreach group. “Before anybody knew it, the community was chemically dependent on it. So now, yes, people do seek it out.”
Kensington Hospital wound care outreach van is parked in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 23, 2023. Xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that’s moving through the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, causing gruesome skin wounds and scrambling longstanding methods for treating addiction and reversing overdoses.
Nick Gallagher reacts as volunteer registered nurse Jennifer D’Angelo treats his skin wounds the Savage Sisters’ community outreach storefront in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 24, 2023. Xylazine can cause severe skin wounds, but whether it is leading to more deaths — as suggested by officials in Washington — is not yet clear, according to health and law enforcement professionals on the front lines of efforts in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.
A community member holds a hot cup of coffee at the Savage Sisters’ outreach storefront in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 24, 2023. Xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that’s moving through the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, causing gruesome skin wounds and scrambling longstanding methods for treating addiction and reversing overdoses.
Sharday Miller, walks away holding extra bandages she received after having her skin treated at the Kensington Hospital wound care outreach van parked in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 23, 2023. Xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that’s moving through the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, causing gruesome skin wounds and scrambling longstanding methods for treating addiction and reversing overdoses.
Dominic Rodriguez speaks with registered nurse Kathy Lalli after she treated his skin injuries at the Kensington Hospital wound care outreach van, parked in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia on May 23, 2023. Xylazine, a powerful animal sedative that’s moving through the illicit drug supply is complicating the U.S. response to the opioid crisis, causing gruesome skin wounds and scrambling longstanding methods for treating addiction and reversing overdoses.
You can reach Howard Yune at 530-763-2266 or hyune@napanews.com.
