Public universities in California will be required to provide a Path to Treatment for students experiencing overdoses. This includes offering rehabilitation and drug education options before any disciplinary actions are taken.
Assembly Bill 602 (AB 602) was enacted by Gov. Gavin Newsom last October and is set to be implemented statewide in July.
During a legislative committee hearing in April 2025, TJ McGee, who had an overdose incident as a sophomore at UC Berkeley, shared, “At the moment someone is overdosing, lives are on the line. But for those on the scene, there’s no guarantee that help will mean a cure.”
Prior to this, California had no uniform policy that prioritized rehabilitation over punitive measures in overdose situations. Consequently, campus approaches varied widely, often leading to students facing disciplinary repercussions instead of receiving necessary medical care.
McGee reflected on his experience, mentioning, “No one asked him if he was OK. No one directed him to support… He spent the next few months crawling along alone on the road to recovery, piecing together what he could, holding on to his education with duct tape and desperation.”
Students from various California universities, including UC Berkeley and UC Davis, drove this legislative effort, motivated by personal losses and concerns over peers who avoided seeking help for fear of backlash from their universities.
“They would rather wait and hope for the best, rather than reach out for help,” noted Saanvi Arora, one of the students involved in drafting the bill.
Collaborating with Democratic Rep. Matt Haney from San Francisco, the initiative aims to shield students from significant academic consequences when they seek assistance in emergencies. “We need to protect students from these extremely harmful academic consequences if they do the right thing and ask for help,” Haney emphasized.
As of now, campuses are in a preparatory phase, looking for funding to appoint addiction coordinators and medical personnel.
In a broader context, California has been identified as home to two of the country’s leading party schools. Niche magazine ranks UC Santa Barbara as the top party school for 2026, with the University of Southern California not far behind, rising in its ranking from fifth to fourth this year.
The crisis is underscored by statistics showing that, as of February, drug overdoses were the third leading cause of death for individuals aged 18 to 24 in California, according to state health reports.
