Bill expanding 911 overdose caller protections passes the house
DENVER, Colo. (KRDO) -- A new bill made its way through the House of Representatives on Friday, expanding on Colorado’s Good Samaritan Laws to include people in possession or distributing less than 4 grams of fentanyl.
Under current law from 2012, a person is protected from arrest and prosecution of certain criminal offenses if the person reports a narcotics overdose. The new law would expand on these protections.
The Reporting Of Emergency Overdose Events Bill, that passed the house 42-20 and is currently heading to the Senate, would protect individuals from prosecution for unlawful possession of a controlled substance if it contains fentanyl, carfentanil, and benzimidazole opiate if they call 911 during an overdose or assist first responders to save a life.
The bill also protects individuals who call for help despite distributing controlled substance for the purpose of consuming all of the controlled substance with another person at a time so long as it isn’t more than 4 grams worth of a controlled substance.
“This is all about saving lives,” the bill's sponsor Colorado State Rep. Chris deGruy Kennedy, a Democrat from Jefferson County, told 13 Investigates. “I mean, we heard testimony from numerous witnesses about having been in an environment where someone was overdosing and they were too scared of calling law enforcement. And there were many cases where someone died because of that fear.”
Kennedy says the bill doesn’t just protect the individual calling 911.
“The current law only gives you immunity if you're the person who called 911 or if you're the person overdosing. But what if you're the person administering CPR? Or what if you're the person outside trying to wave down an ambulance? I want to make sure that those people, if they also stay on the scene, try to save a life and fully cooperate with law enforcement, are also cleared from the threat of prosecution,” Kennedy said.
State Rep. Mary Bradfield, a Republican from El Paso County, voted no on the bill. She fears the person who is calling in the overdose is likely the person who just sold or supplied the fentanyl or controlled substance.
“If you sell and they overdose, you should face consequences,” Bradfield told 13 Investigates.
Kennedy contends that the new bill doesn’t protect major drug dealers. However, it does protect individuals sharing lower amounts of drugs.
“There are multiple dimensions to saving lives here. We want to save the life of any person overdosing. I don't want anyone running away from the cops when they could be staying to try to save someone's life. But I also want to make sure law enforcement still has the tools they need to go after the serious drug dealers,” Kennedy said.
