A California law requiring the state’s public schools to educate students on the dangers and risks of excessive drinking went into effect Jan. 1.

Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 2865 into law in September 2024. It was introduced by then Assemblywoman Wendy Carrillo (D-Los Angeles) after she was convicted of drunk driving.

Carrillo was arrested in November 2023 for driving under the influence (DUI) after crashing into parked cars in Los Angeles.

“It was a moment that absolutely changed my life. I was taken into custody. I spent the night in jail, faced the consequences, and I owned my responsibilities,” Carrillo said during a June 2024 hearing about the bill.

In January 2024, she pleaded no contest to the DUI incident and was ordered to attend multiple programs, including a Mothers Against Drunk Driving class, and to complete 50 hours of community service and pay a $2,000 fine. Her driver’s license was also restricted to driving only to work and the programs.

“Thankfully, no one was harmed,” Carrillo said in a statement at the time. “As a public servant, I am aware that I must adhere to a higher standard that demands personal accountability for my conduct and I accept responsibility for my actions.”

Carrillo was vying to replace Los Angeles City Councilman Kevin de León at the time of her arrest. She lost the race and left her assembly seat at the end of November 2024.

Existing legislation already required California’s elementary and secondary schools to teach students about alcohol, narcotics, restricted dangerous drugs, and other dangerous substances.

The new law requires schools to include information on the “immediate effects of alcohol that increase the risks of harmful health conditions, and how excessive alcohol use can lead to the development of chronic diseases and other serious problems, including alcohol-related deaths and mental health problems,” according to the text of the bill.

Alcohol ranks as the most widely used substance among youth in the United States.

According to data gathered by the National Institutes of Health for 2024, 12.9 percent of eighth graders reported having used alcohol in the past 12 months. For 10th graders, 26.1 percent reported alcohol use in the past 12 months, and 41.7 percent of 12th graders reported the same.

In 2022, the state’s Department of Health Care Services reported that 384 people under the age of 21 died from alcohol-related causes in California and that 15- to 20-year-old drivers with a blood alcohol reading greater than 0.01 percent caused 129 fatal crashes.

City News Service contributed to this report.