Overdose Prevention Campaign Questions and Answers

Why do we need a Good Samaritan law in New Jersey? Drug overdose is a major public health problem.i Nationally, fatal overdoses more than doubled between 1999 and 2005 and are now second only to automobile fatalities as the leading cause of accidental death.ii In New Jersey, overdoses are second only to automobile fatalities as the leading cause of accidental death.iii Almost 6,000 people in New Jersey have died from drug overdoses since 2004.iv In 2009 alone, more than 700 people in New Jersey died from drug overdoses.v Good Samaritan laws encourage witnesses and victims to call 911 and seek emergency medical assistance in overdose situations by removing the fear of arrest and prosecution for drug charges.

Are drug overdose deaths preventable? Yes. In a typical overdose situation, there is both time and opportunity to summon medical assistance. Commonly, overdose victims do not actually die until one to three hours after they have initially taken a drug.vi In addition, most of these deaths occur in the presence of at least one other person.vii Unfortunately, fear of arrest, prosecution and other legal repercussions prevent many people from calling 911.viii One study found that medical assistance was summoned in less than half of all witnessed overdoses.ix

Who supports overdose prevention legislation? A number of national and state-based organizations support Good Samaritan legislation as a means to reduce overdose deaths. In 2008, the U.S. Conference of Mayors unanimously passed a resolution supporting Good Samaritan laws and a comprehensive public health approach to reducing overdose deaths. The Conference described these measures as both life-saving and cost effective.x

How can a Good Samaritan law in New Jersey help combat the overdose problem? Unlike many other leading causes of death, drug overdoses are almost entirely preventable. Fatalities usually result because victims do not get the simple, life-saving medical help that they need in a timely fashion. The best way to encourage people to call 911 in the case of an overdose is by enacting a Good Samaritan law, which provides overdose witnesses and victims with limited protection from arrest and prosecution for drug charges.

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Drug Policy Alliance | 16 West Front Street, Suite 101A, Trenton, NJ 08608 nj@drugpolicy.org | 609.396.8613 voice | 609.396.9478 fax

Have other states passed Good Samaritan laws that protect overdose witnesses and victims? Yes. Connecticut, New Mexico, New York and Washington State have all enacted Good Samaritan laws aimed at encouraging people to call 911 and seek emergency medical assistance in overdose situations.xi In general, these laws provide protection from arrest and prosecution for drug use and possession for both the caller and the victim if the evidence for the arrest or prosecution is gained as a result of the person calling 911. Similar measures are pending in several other states, including California, Illinois and Rhode Island.xii

Does New Jersey support Good Samaritan policies? Yes. In 2009, New Jersey acknowledged the importance of Good Samaritan policies when the legislature unanimously passed a law providing legal protection from alcohol possession and consumption charges to underage drinkers who call 911 for emergency medical assistance.xiii New Jersey should expand this life-saving policy by enacting a Good Samaritan law for drug overdose situations.

i Elizabeth Fiedler, Camden Officials Mobilize to Prevent Heroin Overdoses, newsworks.org, July 5, 2011; Claudia Vargas, New Heroin Linked to 11 Overdoses in Camden, philly.com, July 5, 2011, available at <http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-05/news/29739228_1_overdose-reports-overdose-deaths-synthetic-opiate>; David Kerr, Unintentional Drug Overdoses Caused by Over Use of Pain Management Medication, nj.com, May 24, 2011, available at <http://www.nj.com/newark/davidkerr/index.ssf/2011/05/unintentional_drug_overdoses_c.html>; George Mast, String of Heroin Deaths Scare Gloucester City, Courier Post, March 15, 2011; Staff Report, Conference Aims to Prevent Prescriptions Drug Abuse, mycentraljersey.com, March 9, 2011; Barbara Williams, Bought on the Cheap, But Heroin Exacts a Price, northjersey.com, September 19, 2010, available at <http://www.northjersey.com/news/crime_courts/103227104_Bought_on_the_cheap__but_it_exacts_a_price.html > ii U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC WONDER Compressed Mortality File, ICD-10 Groups: X40-X44 iii Margaret Warner et al., Increase in Fatal Poisonings Involving Opioid Analgesics in the United States, 19992006, NCHS Data Brief, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, no. 22 (Sept. 2009); New Jersey State Police. Accident Investigation Unit, Fatal Motor Vehicle Crash Comparative Data Report for the State of New Jersey (2009), available at <http://www.state.nj.us/njsp////info/fatalacc/2009_fatal_crash.pdf> iv Data received from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. v Data received from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. vi Peter J. Davidson et al., Witnessing Heroin-Related Overdoses: The Experiences of Young Injectors in San Francisco, Addiction 97 (December 2002): 1511. vii Catherine T. Baca and Kenneth J. Grant, What Heroin Users Tell Us About Overdose, Journal of Addictive Diseases vol. 26, no. 4 (2007): 65-67; Karl A. Sporer and Alex H. Kral, Prescription Naloxone: A Novel Approach to Heroin Overdose Prevention, Annals of Emergency Medicine 49, no. 2 (February 2007): 173. viii Baca and Grant, What Heroin Users Tell Us About Overdose, 63; Amy S.B. Bohnert, et al., Policing and Risk of Overdose Mortality in Urban Neighborhoods, Drug and Alcohol Dependence 113 (2011): 66 (finding a correlation between aggressive policing practices and overdose mortality rates in a community). ix Baca and Grant, Heroin Users, 63. x The U.S. Conference of Mayors, 76th Annual Meeting, June 20-24, 2008. xi N.M. Stat. Ann. 30-31-27.1; R.C.W. 69.50.315; N.Y.S. Penal Law 220.78; C.T. Gen. Stat. 21a-279. xii CA Assembly Bill No. 472 (February 15, 2011); IL Senate Bill 0056 (January 27, 2011); Rhode Island House Bill 5650 (March 3, 2011). xiii NJSA 2C:33-15; Gov. Corzine Signs Law Granting Immunity to Underage Drinkers Seeking Medical Help for Others, Star-Ledger (Friday, October 2, 2009), available at <http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/gov_corzine_signs_law_granting.html>

Drug Policy Alliance | 16 West Front Street, Suite 101A, Trenton, NJ 08608 nj@drugpolicy.org | 609.396.8613 voice | 609.396.9478 fax

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