This publication by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) discusses two types of laws enacted at the state level to address opioid overdoses: naloxone access laws and Good Samaritan laws.
This article by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP) discusses two types of laws that state lawmakers have enacted to encourage direct intervention to prevent or reverse an opioid overdose: naloxone access laws and Good Samaritan laws. The paper also explores how these laws affect overdose prevention programming and offer guidance on how to interpret these laws in individual jurisdictions. Good Samaritan laws provide legal protection from arrest, criminal charges, or prosecution for people who possess illicit drugs or drug paraphernalia at the time that they seek medical assistance for a person who may be overdosing. Research on the impact of these laws has demonstrated that they can significantly reduce opioid overdose mortality. The United States’ continuing drug overdose epidemic is driven by illicit opioids, particularly illicitly manufactured fentanyl. In 2020, more than 90,000 people died from drug overdoses. Access to and use of naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, is an important public health approach to combatting high rates of overdose deaths. Naloxone access laws promote widespread access to the prescription-only naloxone drug by offering civil, criminal, or disciplinary protection to medical providers, other professionals, and laypeople who prescribe, dispense, administer, or possess naloxone.