Batch of opioid-related bills making way through General Assembly includes Good Samaritan
The Roanoke Times | Feb. 10, 2015
By Amy Friedenberger
A person who helps an overdose victim could be safe from prosecution — even if he’s using illegal drugs himself — under a bill seeking to curb the number of fatal overdoses from heroin and other opioids in Virginia.
The House of Delegates passed a so-called 911 Good Samaritan bill Tuesday in a 100-0 vote. It now awaits Senate approval.
“The purpose of the bill is to let people know they don’t have to fear prosecution for a minor possession,” said Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, a co-sponsor of the measure. “They may be more apt to assist someone then who’s had an overdose or accidental overdose.”
Del. Betsy Carr, D-Richmond, sponsored HB 1500. Delegates John O’Bannon, R-Henrico County, and Tom Rust, R-Fairfax County, also co-sponsored it.
Safe reporting provisions currently exist in about 20 other states. The Virginia measure has been praised by law enforcement officials and legal professionals who view it as a step toward curtailing accidental overdoses.
The legislation doesn’t grant blanket immunity for any crime that might have occurred surrounding the overdose. But it does protect the person helping the overdose victim from being prosecuted for possession or intoxication.
Botetourt Commonwealth’s Attorney Joel Branscom said the bill is tightly limited to eliminate the fear of minor possession and intoxication charges, but prosecutors didn’t want it to eliminate their ability to prosecute other crimes. He said that’s usually the current practice.
“We try not to punish people for doing the right thing,” Branscom said.
Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, said the bill codifies current policing practices. She said police already take into consideration whether someone is putting himself at legal risk by calling police in the attempt to save a life.
“I think most of our officers who go out there, they take in the circumstances surrounding an overdose,” Schrad said.
Call made too late
Cecil Nichols got the call at 10 a.m. Nov. 14, 2009. His son, Darrell Travis Nichols, 32, was dead, the caller said.
“Did you call 911?” Nichols asked.
Nichols and his wife, Beverly, learned from police that their son, whom friends and relatives called Travis, had been dead for at least three hours from overdosing on methadone.
He was in his Pulaski house with four other people who monitored him for hours but didn’t call 911 until it was too late.
“Travis could not help himself,” Beverly Nichols said. “He needed someone to call him medical help.”
Although there is no telling what might have been, Travis Nichols’ parents think that someone might have considered calling 911 had a 911 Good Samaritan law existed at the time.
“We’d like to see that bill go through, so anytime someone needs help, they can get it,” Cecil Nichols said. “My son wasn’t able to call and get help, and that just hurts me to know. I just don’t want to see another family go through that.”
The Nicholses said their son, who was working in Wytheville as an occupational therapy assistant, wasn’t an addict. He had been planning to move back to Troutville, where his parents live.
Beverly Nichols doesn’t harbor angry feelings toward the people who stood by as her son died. She figured they were scared and didn’t know what to do.
“I think sometimes people are young and they do things, and maybe they were fearful, but that’s what this law will hopefully do,” she said. “Don’t turn your back, walk away or do nothing. Hopefully people in Virginia will see the necessity of this law.”
Heroin abuse on rise
The legislation emerged as an effort to address an alarming rise of heroin abuse in Virginia. The number of heroin-related deaths more than doubled between 2011 and 2013, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The state documented 213 fatal heroin overdoses in 2013, with Fairfax and Prince William counties reporting the highest overall numbers.
In 2013, an additional 468 people died from prescription pill overdoses.
The 911 Good Samaritan measure is among a package of heroin-related bills developed to address what some public officials have said is an epidemic.
In September, Attorney General Mark Herring announced a comprehensive plan to address heroin and prescription drug fatalities, including several legislative proposals.
Several related bills are making their way through the General Assembly.
One would expand the use of naloxone, which counteracts the effects of heroin or other prescription opioid overdoses.
Another would make the delivery of a fatal dose of any illegal drug second-degree murder, a charge right now that can only be brought at the federal level.
A third would give probation officers access to a state prescription monitoring program to ensure that probationers aren’t getting unauthorized opioid prescriptions.
By Amy Friedenberger
A person who helps an overdose victim could be safe from prosecution — even if he’s using illegal drugs himself — under a bill seeking to curb the number of fatal overdoses from heroin and other opioids in Virginia.
The House of Delegates passed a so-called 911 Good Samaritan bill Tuesday in a 100-0 vote. It now awaits Senate approval.
“The purpose of the bill is to let people know they don’t have to fear prosecution for a minor possession,” said Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, a co-sponsor of the measure. “They may be more apt to assist someone then who’s had an overdose or accidental overdose.”
Del. Betsy Carr, D-Richmond, sponsored HB 1500. Delegates John O’Bannon, R-Henrico County, and Tom Rust, R-Fairfax County, also co-sponsored it.
Safe reporting provisions currently exist in about 20 other states. The Virginia measure has been praised by law enforcement officials and legal professionals who view it as a step toward curtailing accidental overdoses.
The legislation doesn’t grant blanket immunity for any crime that might have occurred surrounding the overdose. But it does protect the person helping the overdose victim from being prosecuted for possession or intoxication.
Botetourt Commonwealth’s Attorney Joel Branscom said the bill is tightly limited to eliminate the fear of minor possession and intoxication charges, but prosecutors didn’t want it to eliminate their ability to prosecute other crimes. He said that’s usually the current practice.
“We try not to punish people for doing the right thing,” Branscom said.
Dana Schrad, executive director of the Virginia Association of Chiefs of Police, said the bill codifies current policing practices. She said police already take into consideration whether someone is putting himself at legal risk by calling police in the attempt to save a life.
“I think most of our officers who go out there, they take in the circumstances surrounding an overdose,” Schrad said.
Call made too late
Cecil Nichols got the call at 10 a.m. Nov. 14, 2009. His son, Darrell Travis Nichols, 32, was dead, the caller said.
“Did you call 911?” Nichols asked.
Nichols and his wife, Beverly, learned from police that their son, whom friends and relatives called Travis, had been dead for at least three hours from overdosing on methadone.
He was in his Pulaski house with four other people who monitored him for hours but didn’t call 911 until it was too late.
“Travis could not help himself,” Beverly Nichols said. “He needed someone to call him medical help.”
Although there is no telling what might have been, Travis Nichols’ parents think that someone might have considered calling 911 had a 911 Good Samaritan law existed at the time.
“We’d like to see that bill go through, so anytime someone needs help, they can get it,” Cecil Nichols said. “My son wasn’t able to call and get help, and that just hurts me to know. I just don’t want to see another family go through that.”
The Nicholses said their son, who was working in Wytheville as an occupational therapy assistant, wasn’t an addict. He had been planning to move back to Troutville, where his parents live.
Beverly Nichols doesn’t harbor angry feelings toward the people who stood by as her son died. She figured they were scared and didn’t know what to do.
“I think sometimes people are young and they do things, and maybe they were fearful, but that’s what this law will hopefully do,” she said. “Don’t turn your back, walk away or do nothing. Hopefully people in Virginia will see the necessity of this law.”
Heroin abuse on rise
The legislation emerged as an effort to address an alarming rise of heroin abuse in Virginia. The number of heroin-related deaths more than doubled between 2011 and 2013, according to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
The state documented 213 fatal heroin overdoses in 2013, with Fairfax and Prince William counties reporting the highest overall numbers.
In 2013, an additional 468 people died from prescription pill overdoses.
The 911 Good Samaritan measure is among a package of heroin-related bills developed to address what some public officials have said is an epidemic.
In September, Attorney General Mark Herring announced a comprehensive plan to address heroin and prescription drug fatalities, including several legislative proposals.
Several related bills are making their way through the General Assembly.
One would expand the use of naloxone, which counteracts the effects of heroin or other prescription opioid overdoses.
Another would make the delivery of a fatal dose of any illegal drug second-degree murder, a charge right now that can only be brought at the federal level.
A third would give probation officers access to a state prescription monitoring program to ensure that probationers aren’t getting unauthorized opioid prescriptions.
