California: Governor Newsom Releases Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis
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~ Governor Gavin Newsom visited the San Ysidro Port of Entry to announce his administration's Master Plan for Tackling the Fentanyl and Opioid Crisis. The plan is a comprehensive approach to save lives, and builds on the Governor's $1 billion investment to tackle this crisis.

The Master Plan outlines aggressive steps to support overdose prevention efforts, hold the opioid pharmaceutical industry accountable, crack down on drug trafficking, and raise awareness about the dangers of opioids, including fentanyl. Governor Newsom said "Over 150 people die every day in our nation from overdoses and poisonings related to synthetic opioids like fentanyl. Enough. With this Master Plan, California is doubling down to combat this crisis and save lives. Our comprehensive approach will expand enforcement efforts to crack down on transnational criminal organizations trafficking this poison into our communities — while prioritizing harm reduction strategies to reduce overdoses and compassionately help those struggling with substance use and addiction."

The plan includes a new CalRx effort where California will seek to manufacture its own opioid overdose reversal drug Naloxone. Additionally, Governor Newsom has proposed $96 million in funding in his 2023-24 budget for Naloxone Distribution Project grants for education, testing, recovery, and support services; making fentanyl test strips more widely available; and providing overdose medication to all middle and high schools.

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The U.S has faced an evolving crisis of opioid addiction, overdose, and death for over two decades due to Big Pharma's irresponsible marketing of prescription opioids – bringing us to today's fentanyl crisis. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), a vast majority of fentanyl in the U.S comes via ports of entry at the border – through trafficking by organized crime rings, not by migrants.

Under Governor Newsom's leadership, California has worked aggressively to tackle the opioid crisis with investments totaling $450 million in treatment, abatement, and prevention efforts in the current fiscal year alone. The 2022 Budget Act included $30 million for expanding California Military Department's existing drug interdiction efforts throughout the state with a focus on assisting federal law enforcement agencies combatting fentanyl. To support this initiative 144 new members have been hired by the California National Guard who are trained and embedded in communities across California.

Governor Newsom's Master Plan provides a comprehensive framework that will deepen the impact of these investments with an aim of saving lives and making California safer from opioid-related deaths due to fentanyl poisoning or overdoses.

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