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 | | Subject: The Good Samaritan Bill Wed 07 Oct 2009, 8:52 pm | |
|  Previously I posted an article that mentioned the Good Samaritan bill. I wanted to post this so those of you who are not familiar with that particular bill can read it over.
Below that I will post an update to that bill.ANNAPOLIS - Advocates of a "good Samaritan" bill Wednesday said it would encourage people to seek help for those suffering from drug or alcohol overdoses, but critics expressed concern that it would provide immunity for a wide array of crimes.
The proposed legislation would offer limited immunity for both the person making the call and the one experiencing the overdose, but would not protect callers from prosecution if they provided the drugs or alcohol to the victim.
"It's plain and simple. This bill saves lives," said Delegate Kriselda Valderrama, D-Prince George's, the lead sponsor of the bill.
In 2007, New Mexico passed similar legislation, becoming the first state in the nation to do so. The House of Delegates passed an amended version of the bill last year that did not make it out of the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee.
Two proponents of the legislation used personal experiences to illustrate its merits.
Dr. Daniel Reardon testified that his son, Daniel Reardon Jr., died as a result of heavy drinking at a fraternity initiation at the University of Maryland in 2002. Fraternity members delayed calling 911 to avoid exposing alcohol violations, he said, something the bill could have prevented.
"I believe this would have saved my son's life," he said.
Lana Dreyfuss said she nearly died from a heroin overdose more than 20 years ago when her "so-called friends" left her in a restaurant bathroom. She said she wouldn't be here today if a worker hadn't found her and called 911.
"When you are actively using drugs or alcohol, and one of your friends or acquaintances seems to be having problems ... your friends usually leave the scene very quickly, mainly because they're concerned about their own safety," Dreyfuss said.
In 2005, 33,541 people died of drug-induced causes in the United States, which represented an 8.7 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Drug Abuse Warning Network, a public health surveillance system, said in a 2006 report that more than 1.7 million emergency visits for treatment were associated with some form of substance misuse or abuse.
While critics were careful not to express opposition to the intent of the bill, they voiced concern about its possible implications.
Delegate Luiz Simmons, D-Montgomery, said he was worried the bill would provide a "get-out-of-jail-free card" for certain crimes.
Simmons particularly objected to a section of the bill that states that callers could not be "detained on an outstanding warrant for another nonviolent crime." He said that since "non-violent" crimes were not defined anywhere in the bill, those protected could include the drug kingpins themselves.
William Katcef, assistant state's attorney for Anne Arundel County, echoed Simmons' concerns.
Katcef, who testified on behalf of the Maryland State's Attorneys' Association, said that exemptions could also include crimes such as sex offense of a minor, burglary, and second-degree assault, and would also apply to the person who overdosed.
"This is really an immunity bill," he said.
Proponents of the bill said some people would still be too scared of prosecution to seek help. They offered to work with members of the committee -- and Katcef himself -- to craft a bill that would address the concerns that had been raised.
Lori Albin, director of legislation for the Office of the Public Defender, put it in simple terms.
"This is about trying to get one person to stay," she said.March 19,2009 More than 700 people died of drug overdoses in Washington state in 2006, up from a little over 400 in 1999. In an effort to blunt that trend, state Rep. Roger Goodman (D-Kirkland) has introduced HB 1796, which would provide limited immunity from prosecution for drug possession for people seeking assistance for friends or relatives suffering from a drug overdose. At present, New Mexico is the only state to have passed such a "Good Samaritan" law.
Many overdose deaths occur because friends of the victim delay or completely avoid seeking medical treatment for fear they will end up being arrested themselves. That fear is one of the most significant barriers to getting help for OD victims.
The bill would prevent Good Samaritans from being prosecuted for drug possession, but not drug manufacture or distribution offenses. The bill also provides the same immunities for drug overdose victims. A second section of the bill legalizes the use of the opioid antagonist naloxone to treat overdoses.
Before becoming an elected official, Goodman earned an impressive reputation in the drug law reform community and the legal community as head of the King County Bar Association Drug Policy Project. Now, he has moved from advocating change to legislating change.
The bill was introduced January 29 and passed the House Committee on Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness on February 18 in amended version. On Thursday, it was returned to the Rules Committee for a second reading.
March 13, 2009Update:Update: HB 1796, and its companion bill sponsored by Sen. Rosa Franklin, SB 5516, did not come up for a vote before Thursday's cutoff.MourningThe American Civil Liberties Union of Washington said it was disappointed by the death of two bills aimed at reducing drug overdoses. The measures failed to come to a vote by Thursday's cutoff.
Senate Bill 5516, sponsored by Sen. Rosa Franklin, and House Bill 1796, sponsored by Rep. Roger Goodman, provided immunity from prosecution to people who summon medical help in a drug-overdose situation.
"We're certainly disappointed the bills did not receive full consideration and discussion this session. But we're encouraged by their progress and the increased attention being paid to this public-health crisis," said Shankar Narayan, the ACLU of Washington legislative director.
The legal immunity offered was restricted to charges for possessing or sharing drugs, the organization noted. The bills did not provide protection from charges for controlled-substances homicide, manufacturing drugs, drug dealing or any non-drug-related crime.
March 14,2009References:Southern Maryland OnlineThe Olympian StopThe DrugWar.org Posted By:Dee10/07/2009 | |
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