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Maine Bill LD 710 - Reflections on the Decay of Morality


Overview

Originally Published: 04/01/2015

Post Date: 04/01/2015

by Tim Cheney | Chooper's Guide


Video

Summary/Abstract

Partial testimony on Bill LD 710: An Act Providing a Good Samaritan Defense to Individuals Reporting a Drug Overdose given by Chooper's Guide co-founder in Augusta, ME on April 1, 2015.

Content

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”  ~ Thomas Jefferson

“A nation’s greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

It was April Fools day as I approached the podium to give testimony to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety on Bill  LD 710: An Act Providing a Good Samaritan Defense to Individuals Reporting a Drug Overdose. It was Act II of the play What is the Comparative Value of an Addict's Life". In Act I, a self styled, highly contentious and intermittently volatile Governor, played by Paul Lepage, had disregarded the house and the senate vote, defied scientific and medical evidence, and vetoed the 911 Good Samaritan Bill. During the intermission, 176 people died of opioid overdoses in Maine.

As I drove to Augusta Maine, I thought about how I could refrain from mocking and condescending to the committee about the absurdity of the necessity to debate the value of the sacredness of human life. How we as an allegedly humane, civilized society could even contemplate, let alone debate, placing law enforcement priorities above  legislation that would save the lives of countless individuals afficted with the disease of addiction. In my opinion, omission with knowledge of the probable consequences with no preventive actions is equivalent to commission. The crime is negligent manslaughter or as the CDC statistics of 125,000 overdose deaths in the last decade would imply, genocide.  Communites that have enacted and implemented naloxone and Good Samaritan Legislation have reported a nearly 50% decrease in rates of mortality;  simple math indicates that  62,500 people would still be alive today.  God help us!

Below is an excerpt from my testimony.

"In 1980 in New Haven, CT, I suffered a near fatal overdose that required three injections of Narcan to revive me and left me paralyzed from the waist down. When the responders arrived, I had stopped breathing and was cyanotic. Had I not received immediate medical attention because an addict made a 911 call, I would have died that night. Had he been on parole, probation or had had drugs or paraphernalia on his person, he would not have made that call. I stand here before you today as a result of a 30 second telephone call.  I knew and know of many who have died from opioid overdoses because no one made a call for fear of arrest and incarceration.

I applaud the legislature for the recently enacted naloxone legislation.  However naloxone by itself, especially with long acting opioids such as oxycontin, Zohydro and methadone, is not enough. Naloxone is effective for approximately thirty minutes with these drugs and if victims do not receive medical attention they will experience respiratory depression and die. Simply put, these drugs outlast the naloxone.

Addiction is a chronic disease.  It is not a criminal or a moral issue. It is a healthcare issue, plain and simple. This bill as proposed with the affirmative defense provision is a half measure at best. Addicts customarily inject drugs with other addicts and when faced with the prospect of potential arrest or violation of probation or parole they will invariably vacate the scene before responders arrive (if they called), leaving the victim unattended.  

Responding to an overdose is a medical emergency not an opportunity to make an arrest. The sole focus of the responders should be to save the endangered life just as in any other medical emergency. If the police respond to a cardiac incident, they do not, in my experience, look for visible evidence of drug use  or check for parole or probation status for the persons present. There is no law to my knowledge that forbids consorting with a known cardiac victim. This is discrimination and what we know today as profiling.

I urge the legislative members today to carefully consider the ramifications of passing this bill as submitted. The affirmative defense proposal violates the spirit of this medical legislation. To ignore the medical science and documented social behavior of the addict subculture in overdose situations constitutes wanton disregard and negligent manslaughter. We know that this bill, as it stands, will impact mortality rates amongst this population.

We have lost well over 125,000 lives to overdose in the last decade due (CDC) to our classification of addiction as a legal and moral issue. The medical, scientific and addiction treatment personnel have recognized addiction as a disease since 1956. Twenty three states have passed legislation for the 911 Good Samaritan law. On behalf of the suffering addicts and the families who have lost their loved ones, I  urge you to modify bill LD170 so that it will yield the results intended – to save lives. Immunity from prosecution is essential to achieve this."


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