Written by Jennifer Fernandez
GREENSBORO — Randy Abbott lost his daughter to a drug overdose in 2015.
No one called for help in time.
Diane Carden's son died of a heroin overdose in 2012.
No one called for help in time.
As the number of people dying from overdoses in North Carolina continues to rise each year (a record 4,339 in 2022), parents and families are calling for changes to state law. It claims this will encourage people to seek help even if they have used drugs themselves or are using drugs. Delivered a potentially lethal dose.
“I do not support the current approach of increasing prison sentences for non-drug traffickers who participate in overdose incidents,” Carden said Wednesday at a press conference about the changing legal landscape due to the opioid epidemic. .
“We cannot remain silent. As family members who have lost someone to an overdose, we will continue to speak out. We want policies that keep people alive with compassion, support, and harm reduction. '' added Carden, who founded ekiM for Change after her son's death (the organization is named in honor of her son Mike, spelling his name backwards). The Pitt County-based nonprofit offers a variety of harm reduction services, from clean needles and naloxone to fentanyl test strips and HIV testing.
At a press conference in Greensboro earlier this week, Mr. Abbott announced the results of a new survey from Expand Good Samaritan, suggesting that North Carolina voters also want to change the state's Good Samaritan law. He said he had shown that he was there.
“When a drug overdose occurs, voters have clearly stated that they need to focus more on saving the life of an overdose victim, rather than charging someone with a drug crime,” the Coalition said. said Abbott, a coordinator and parent advocate.
Good Samaritan Law Poll
Expand Good Sam NC, a coalition of organizations across the state, is proposing important changes to the state's Good Samaritan law that it says will encourage people to seek help without fear of penalties. are doing.
The group commissioned a poll conducted last month by phone among likely voters by Strategic Partners Solutions, a Raleigh-based consulting firm. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The findings include:
- At least three-quarters of the 600 voters surveyed, regardless of political affiliation, said that saving the life of someone who has overdosed is more important than catching the person who supplied them. I agree with the opinion that it should be.
- More than two-thirds of voters across all demographics agree that people who call 911 for help in drug overdose situations should not be charged with possession unless they are drug traffickers. .
- These voters also overwhelmingly agree (75.5%) to provide protections to college students who call to report an overdose.
- Almost two-thirds (66.2 percent) of voters surveyed agree that people should not be charged with “death by rationing” if they ask for help.
Nearly two in five randomly selected people surveyed said a friend or family member had died of an overdose, a condition more common among people from rural areas.
Mary O'Donnell has long supported expanding the state's Good Samaritan law. Her son, Sean, passed away in 2017 while drinking alcohol with his friends at a quarry near his home in Chatham County. His frightened friends left him behind. He then fell into a quarry and drowned.
She encouraged supporters to tell lawmakers they want to change the law to prevent more deaths.
Mr Abbott said change was needed.
“We are losing a generation,” he said. “We are losing lives every day.”
NC changes the law
Last year, North Carolina lawmakers joined the list of states tightening their “death by distribution” laws. At the same time, the state expanded the Good Samaritan Law to provide limited immunity from prosecution for possession of up to one gram of drugs. Previously, only certain drugs were covered, such as cocaine and heroin.
Abbott and Expand Good Sam North Carolina said changes to the Good Samaritan law are not enough.
And Carden said tightening distribution laws is going too far.
They believe harsher penalties only put more lives at risk because people who fear being prosecuted for drug use are less likely to help someone who has overdosed.
Barb Walsh, executive director of the North Carolina Fentanyl Victims Network, isn't happy with some changes to the state's Good Samaritan law for another reason. The expansion to all drugs includes fentanyl, which is extremely potent and the primary cause of overdoses in North Carolina.
Fentanyl is the drug that killed a 24-year-old daughter in 2021 after she unknowingly drank water laced with the drug. No one has been charged in her daughter's death.
Just 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be deadly.
“I don't agree with the policy, but I voted to get the amendment passed,” Walsh said, adding that possession of an illegal drug as powerful as fentanyl, which can kill so many people, is wrong. He added that he thinks there are.
Her harm reduction efforts are focused on bringing the life-saving opioid reversal drug naloxone to schools across the state.
Naloxone in schools
Last week, Walsh hosted a Fentanyl Awareness Day at General Assembly in Raleigh. More than 75 families met with lawmakers to discuss their concerns and encourage support for initiatives such as increasing naloxone access in schools.
The next day, lawmakers introduced two bills that would appropriate $350,000 from the state's Opioid Settlement Fund to send naloxone to every school in the state.
However, because policy decisions regarding naloxone use are made by school boards, Walsh said his organization is working to encourage school systems to take advantage of the availability of opioid antagonists.
He said Wake County Public Schools is considering a plan to approve the use of naloxone in all schools and could vote on it later this month.
The state's largest school district already allows school resource officers to carry naloxone. The district's policy committee is recommending that all schools train some staff members on recognizing the signs of an opioid emergency and using naloxone, according to reports.
Last school year, school nurses, staff and SROs administered naloxone on school grounds across the state 21 times, according to the Annual School Health Services Report brochure. Last year, it was used 14 times.
“Incurable disease”
North Carolina families who shared their stories of loss at two events this week urged lawmakers to decriminalize drug possession, expand harm reduction and addiction services, open overdose prevention centers, and implement evidence-based He said he is seeking the provision of more effective treatment options.
Caroline Drake, community engagement coordinator for Guilford County Opioid Solutions, said her daughter was on the path to recovery.
“She was a beautiful, caring, shy, kind girl,” Drake said of her daughter Caitlin, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 23. “She was a beautiful, caring, shy, kind girl who wanted to love, be loved, and find relief from this relentless disease. That's all I wanted,” he said. I tried to catch up with him many times, but it always seemed like he was catching up to me. ”
Drake said GCStop was always there for her daughter during her addiction. So it felt natural for her to give back during her recovery. She was volunteering until the week before her relapse and fatal overdose.
“The path that brought me here is not the path I would have chosen, but I intend to continue on this path in hopes of saving another family from this never-ending pain.” Mr. Drake said.
She also said she wanted to save another person who “didn't deserve to die” because some people fear being punished “for just doing the right thing, which is asking for help.”