Action Family Counseling’s Santa Clarita Parent and Teen Support Group Program members walked to educate the community Saturday, January 12, drawing attention to California’s new Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Law that went into effect January 1.
Long overdue, California’s new law encourages witnesses at the scene of a suspected drug or alcohol overdose to seek emergency assistance right away without fear of arrest for minor drug law violations. The law, commonly referred to in other states as the “911 Good Samaritan Law,” was introduced by Assembly member Tom Ammiano and passed in 2012. California becomes the tenth state to pass a law encouraging people to call 911 for help for suspected overdose victims.
Reassuring Californians that calling 911 is safe and the right thing to do when someone’s life is in danger is of the utmost importance. Individuals with the overdose suffer, will typically fail to call and get help because they are afraid of getting arrested for drug possession.
California is among the many states where drug overdose fatalities are the number one cause of accidental injury-related deaths, surpassing even motor vehicle deaths.
Most people are unaware that someone dies of a drug overdose every 19 minutes here in the United States. Figures released by the Center for Disease Control and the National Center for Health Services show 40,000 lives are being lost annually to overdoses, primarily the result of heroin and prescription opiates. These studies also indicate that those who have over-dosed, do so in the presence of others.
There were 19-drug overdose deaths in Santa Clarita in 2012, and after legal investigations it was determined that many of those dying were with others at the time of their deaths. Just imagine how many lives could have been saved with a 911 call to emergency services. It was that fear of legal prosecution that was the obstacle in seeking medical care for someone who was dying.
I want to make it very clear that we should never disregard the seriousness of illegal drug use, but a drug overdose should never become a death penalty out of fear.
Cary Quashen is a certified addiction specialist and the president and founder of Action Family Counseling Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programs and the Action Parent & Teen Support Group Programs. For further information call 661-297-4660 and visit www.actionfamily.org.