TRENTON – Legislation sponsored by Senator Joseph F. Vitale and Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg that would protect good Samaritans who call 911 to seek medical assistance for someone experiencing a drug overdose was approved today by the full Senate and now heads to the Governor’s desk.
“The leading cause of accidental death in New Jersey is no longer automobile accidents, but drug overdoses,” said Senator Vitale (D-Middlesex). “Many of the hundreds of New Jersey men and women who die each year from drug overdoses could have been saved if those with them when they overdosed were not afraid of arrest or prosecution for seeking emergency medical attention. By creating a limited immunity from prosecution for individuals who call for medical assistance for an overdose victim, we can hopefully keep that person alive long enough to get them into a substance abuse treatment program, so they can get back their lives.”