---
type: "Bill"
title: "Controlled substances: fentanyl."
description: "Existing law classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of those substances placed in Schedule I. Existing law classifies the drug fentanyl in Schedule II. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing for sale or purchasing for purposes of sale specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and provides for imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years for a violation of this provision. Existing law also imposes an additional term, and authorizes a trial court to impose a specified fine, upon a person who is convicted of a violation of, or of a conspiracy to violate, specified provisions of law with respect to a substance containing heroin, cocaine base, and cocaine, if the substance exceeds a specified weight."
jurisdiction: "us/states/ca"
legislature: "California Legislature"
session: "20232024"
identifier: "AB 701"
citation: "California AB 701 (20232024)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Controlled substances", "fentanyl"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Villapudua"]
version_count: 7
action_count: 27
vote_count: 9
first_action: "2023-02-13"
last_action: "2023-10-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/bdbc7a08-e1bc-44ef-9ac2-f11bd836e063"
source_url: "http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB701"
source_hash: "29b67d596ba40277f6172ed398f490462a189a062bc00edd3a3c224ecb742d25"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ca"]
---

# California AB 701 (20232024) — Controlled substances: fentanyl.

Existing law classifies controlled substances into 5 schedules and places the greatest restrictions and penalties on the use of those substances placed in Schedule I. Existing law classifies the drug fentanyl in Schedule II. Existing law prohibits a person from possessing for sale or purchasing for purposes of sale specified controlled substances, including fentanyl, and provides for imprisonment in a county jail for 2, 3, or 4 years for a violation of this provision. Existing law also imposes an additional term, and authorizes a trial court to impose a specified fine, upon a person who is convicted of a violation of, or of a conspiracy to violate, specified provisions of law with respect to a substance containing heroin, cocaine base, and cocaine, if the substance exceeds a specified weight.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **02/13/23 - Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB701&version=20230AB70199INT)
2. **06/20/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB701&version=20230AB70198AMD)
3. **09/01/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB701&version=20230AB70197AMD)
4. **09/08/23 - Amended Senate** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB701&version=20230AB70196AMD)
5. **10/08/23 - Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB701&version=20230AB70194CHP)
6. **AB701** (committee substitute) — [source](http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB701)
7. **09/18/23 - Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billPdf.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB701&version=20230AB70195ENR)

## Votes

- Do pass, but first be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **5–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **4–0** (fail) · lower
- Do pass. — **14–0** (pass) · lower
- AB 701 Villapudua Assembly Third Reading — **72–0** (pass) · lower
- 3rd Reading AB701 Villapudua et al. By Dodd — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Do pass as amended — **7–0** (pass) · upper
- AB 701 Villapudua Concurrence in Senate Amendments — **78–0** (pass) · lower
- Do pass and be re-referred to the Committee on [Appropriations] — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- Placed on suspense file — **7–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Villapudua — primary (person)
- Addis — coauthor (person)
- Allen — coauthor (person)
- Alvarado-Gil — coauthor (person)
- Alvarez — coauthor (person)
- Arambula — coauthor (person)
- Archuleta — coauthor (person)
- Ashby — coauthor (person)
- Atkins — coauthor (person)
- Bains — coauthor (person)
- Blanca Rubio — coauthor (person)
- Caballero — coauthor (person)
- Cervantes — coauthor (person)
- Connolly — coauthor (person)
- Dodd — coauthor (person)
- Grayson — coauthor (person)
- Grove — coauthor (person)
- Hurtado — coauthor (person)
- Irwin — coauthor (person)
- Jones — coauthor (person)
- Juan Carrillo — coauthor (person)
- Laird — coauthor (person)
- Maienschein — coauthor (person)
- McCarty — coauthor (person)
- McGuire — coauthor (person)
- Menjivar — coauthor (person)
- Mike Fong — coauthor (person)
- Newman — coauthor (person)
- Nguyen — principal coauthor (person)
- Niello — coauthor (person)
- Ochoa Bogh — coauthor (person)
- Ortega — coauthor (person)
- Padilla — coauthor (person)
- Pellerin — coauthor (person)
- Petrie-Norris — author (person)
- Portantino — coauthor (person)
- Roth — coauthor (person)
- Rubio — coauthor (person)
- Seyarto — coauthor (person)
- Soria — coauthor (person)
- Stern — coauthor (person)
- Wahab — coauthor (person)
- Wendy Carrillo — coauthor (person)
- Wilk — coauthor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2023-02-13** Read first time. To print. `reading-1`
- **2023-02-14** From printer. May be heard in committee March 16.
- **2023-02-23** Referred to Com. on PUB. S. `referral-committee`
- **2023-03-21** In committee: Set, first hearing. Failed passage. Reconsideration granted.
- **2023-04-27** Joint Rule 62(a), file notice suspended. (Page 1348.)
- **2023-05-01** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 6. Noes 0.) (April 27). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-05-10** In committee: Set, first hearing. Referred to APPR. suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2023-05-18** Coauthors revised.
- **2023-05-18** From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 14. Noes 0.) (May 18). `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-05-18** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-05-25** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 72. Noes 0. Page 1755.) `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-05-26** In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. `reading-1`
- **2023-06-07** Referred to Com. on PUB S. `referral-committee`
- **2023-06-20** From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on PUB. S. `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2, referral-committee`
- **2023-06-28** From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 5. Noes 0.) (June 27). Re-referred to Com. on APPR. `committee-passage, committee-passage-favorable, referral-committee`
- **2023-08-14** In committee: Referred to APPR suspense file. `referral-committee`
- **2023-09-01** From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (September 1). `amendment-introduction, amendment-passage, committee-passage`
- **2023-09-01** Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-05** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-08** Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading. `amendment-passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-11** Read second time. Ordered to third reading. `reading-1, reading-2`
- **2023-09-12** Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 38. Noes 0. Page 2617.). `passage, reading-1, reading-3`
- **2023-09-12** In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.
- **2023-09-13** Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 3362.). `amendment-passage, committee-passage-favorable`
- **2023-09-20** Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4 p.m.
- **2023-10-08** Approved by the Governor. `executive-signature`
- **2023-10-08** Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 540, Statutes of 2023. `became-law`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/bdbc7a08-e1bc-44ef-9ac2-f11bd836e063`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official California legislature records).