Inland lawmakers seek to restore felony punishment for possession of some drugs after Prop. 47’s unexpectedly reduced penalty.
Story By Jeff Horseman, Staff Writer | The Press Enterprise
Several Inland lawmakers are among the sponsors of state legislation they say is necessary to close a legal loophole that eases penalties for so-called “date-rape” drugs.
Assembly members Melissa Melendez, R-Lake Elsinore, and Marc Steinorth, R-Rancho Cucamonga, are sponsoring a bill to allow prosecutors to file felony charges against people accused of possessing date-rape drugs such as GHB, Rohypnol and Ketamine.
State Sen. Jeff Stone, R-Temecula, is co-author of a similar bill in the Senate.
If passed and signed by the governor, the Assembly bill would go on the ballot, since the Legislature cannot by itself change voter-approved ballot measures.
Prop. 47, which voters passed in November, reduces penalties for many nonviolent offenses from felonies to misdemeanors in an effort to free up jail space and shift money toward crime prevention and drug treatment programs. Riverside County has seen a dip in jail bookings since Prop. 47 took effect.
That has led to fewer early inmate releases to ease jail crowding. But critics said the proposition inadvertently erased felony charges for date-rape drugs and lumped them in with recreational drugs.
As a result, someone caught with a date-rape drug is unlikely to face jail time, Steinorth said in a news release Tuesday, Feb. 24.
“Date-rape drugs are used for one reason — to commit sexual assault,” said Steinorth, who is serving his first term. “California needs to continue to stand strong for victims and ensure law enforcement has all the tools necessary to appropriately punish date-rape drug offenders.”
Melendez made reforming date-rape drug laws one of her top priorities for this legislative session.
“As a mother of a young daughter, it horrifies me to think that it’s now only a misdemeanor to possess date-rape drugs,” she wrote in a December commentary on her website.
Stone, a pharmacist, voiced his concerns about Prop. 47’s effect on date-rape drug penalties during his Senate campaign last year.
But retired San Diego police Chief William Lansdowne, a Prop. 47 proponent, said the date-rape drug legislation focusing on possession is unnecessary because it’s still a crime to use the drugs for purposes of sexual assault.
“I’m not sure that it really changes anything,” he said. “I think that there are plenty of crimes you can charge in a case like this.”
Many date rapes involve the use of alcohol, Lansdowne added.
In written arguments, Prop. 47 supporters last year said the measure “does not reduce penalties for any sex crime. Under Prop. 47, using or attempting to use any kind of drug to commit date rape or other felony crimes remains a felony.”
Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz said prosecutors should have the option of charging someone possessing a date-rape drug with a felony. “To me, it’s a no-brainer,” he said.
The date-rape drug issue is one of several raised by Prop. 47 foes.
Diaz said he’s concerned that Prop. 47 eliminates felonies for stealing guns unless the gun is worth more than $950.
And Steinorth and San Bernardino County District Attorney Mike Ramos issued a news release last week urging the passage of an Assembly bill to require DNA samples to be taken from certain convicted criminals.
DNA collection was no longer mandated for certain offenses, such as spousal abuse, grand theft and indecent exposure, once they were reduced from felonies to misdemeanors, according to Steinorth’s office.
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Story By Jeff Horseman, Staff Writer | The Press Enterprise
951-368-9547 or jhorseman@pe.com
