CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Constitutional Amendment
No. 12

Introduced by Assembly Members Dixon, Alanis, and Joe Patterson
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Chen, Megan Dahle, Davies, Essayli, Flora, Vince Fong, Gallagher, Hoover, Lackey, Mathis, Jim Patterson, Petrie-Norris, Sanchez, Ta, Waldron, and Wallis)
(Coauthors: Senators Alvarado-Gil, Grove, Jones, Nguyen, Niello, Ochoa Bogh, Seyarto, and Wilk)

June 05, 2023

A resolution to propose to the people of the State of California an amendment to the Constitution of the State, by adding Section 33 to Article I thereof, relating to controlled substances.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


ACA 12, as introduced, Dixon. Controlled substances.
Existing law makes it a crime to possess for sale or purchase for purpose of sale, transport, import, sell, furnish, administer, give away, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, derive, process, or prepare various controlled substances, including, among others, fentanyl, peyote, and various other opiates and narcotics.
This measure would require a criminal court to advise a person who is convicted of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, the above-described crimes, as specified, of the danger of selling or administering illicit drugs and counterfeit pills and that, if a person dies as a result of that action, the defendant can be charged with homicide. The measure would require the court to read the advisory statement in a case in which the defendant exchanged a controlled substance containing fentanyl or its analogs for anything else of value, as specified. The measure would require the advisory statement to be included in a plea form, if used, and specified on the record. The measure would require that the fact the advisory was given be recorded in the abstract of conviction and would prohibit the advisement from being used as evidence in the prosecution of a minor in juvenile court.
Vote: 2/3   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  
Resolved by the Assembly, the Senate concurring, That the Legislature of the State of California at its 2023–24 Regular Session, commencing on the fifth day of December 2022, two-thirds of the membership of each house concurring, hereby proposes to the people of the State of California, that the Constitution of the State be amended as follows:

 That Section 33 is added to Article I thereof, to read:

SEC. 33.
 (a) The people shall have the right to be free from the dangers of poisoning from illicit and counterfeit substances. Fentanyl and other dangerous drugs pose a significant risk to public safety. The defendant in a criminal cause has the right to be informed of the dangers and potential legal consequences of selling, manufacturing, transporting, or administering illicit and counterfeit drugs.
(b) A criminal court shall advise a person who is convicted of, or who pleads guilty or no contest to, a violation of possessing for sale or purchasing for purposes of sale any controlled substance, transporting, importing, selling, or administering a controlled substance, offering to transport, import, sell, or administer a controlled substance, attempting to transport, import, sell, or administer a controlled substance, or manufacturing, compounding, converting, producing, deriving, processing, or preparing a controlled substance, either directly or indirectly by chemical extraction or independently by means of chemical synthesis, of the following:
“You are hereby advised that all illicit drugs and counterfeit pills are dangerous to human life and become even deadlier when they are, sometimes unknowingly, mixed with substances such as fentanyl and analogs of fentanyl. People can and have died from these substances, even in very small doses. It is extremely dangerous and deadly to human life to sell or administer drugs, in any form, when not lawfully authorized to do so. If you do so in the future and a person dies as a result of that action, and you knew or should have known that the substance you provided contained fentanyl or a fentanyl analog, you may be charged with homicide, up to and including the crime of murder, within the meaning of Section 187 of the Penal Code. In addition, this conviction will be considered by a judge or jury as to whether you knew or should have known that the substance you provided to the decedent contained fentanyl or a fentanyl analog.”
The court shall additionally read the advisory statement in a case in which the person exchanged a controlled substance containing fentanyl or its analogs for anything else of value, except when the controlled substance containing fentanyl or its analogs is exchanged for a controlled substance or alcohol.
(c) The advisory statement shall be included in a plea form, if used, or the fact that the advisory was given shall be specified on the record.
(d) The fact that the advisory was given shall be recorded in the abstract of the conviction.
(e) This advisement may not be used as evidence in the prosecution of a minor in juvenile court.