SAN DIEGO — During an emotional news conference Friday morning, a San Diego mother pleaded with lawmakers to pass AB 367, a bill that stiffens the penalties for drug dealers who supply doses that lead to great bodily injury or death.
Laura Brinker White lost her 17-year-old son Connor to a fentanyl overdose in May 2021.
"When I got the call and raced home, my son was laying in the hallway next to his room with a plastic blanket draped over him and the police would not let me say goodbye because of the potential exposure to fentanyl," she said tearfully.
She said her son was a football player and good student at Cathedral Catholic High School. He was struggling with anxiety. She said she tried getting him professional help, but a drug dealer got to him first.
"Connor did not overdose from a handful of pills, he took one pill that killed him," she said.
Assemblymember Brian Maienschein introduced AB 367 last month. The bill would allow prosecutors to apply an enhancement of 3 years to the sentence of any dealers who supply drugs that cause great bodily injury or death.
Brinker White said her son's dealer was sentenced to a year behind bars, but because of good behavior, he was released within six months, right before Thanksgiving.
"He got to go home, but I didn’t have my son on Thanksgiving," she said.
AB 367 will first go before a public safety committee, which is expected to happen within the next month. After that, it will go before the assembly floor.
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