FARGO (KFGO) - Cass County's chief prosecutor and top public health official say improvements are needed in a North Dakota law that provides legal immunity in certain cases that involve potentially lethal drug overdoses.
The "Good Samaritan Law" protects people from being prosecuted if they call 9-1-1 during drug-related emergencies. The North Dakota legislature approved the measure in 2015 as a means to help reduce the number of opioid-related deaths.
Fargo-Cass Public Health Officer, Dr. John Baird, says the Good Samaritan Law “sounds good,” but he says it has the potential to be used against someone who reports an overdose. “That goes around the community” Baird said. “Pretty soon, nobody wants to trust the law or trust what they’re doing in good faith is going to come back and bite them.”
Cass County States Attorney Birch Burdick agrees that the law is not as effective as it could be. “I’m not sure I know all the reasons why” Burdick said. “But I think that some of those are that people are still not really trusting of law enforcement and what’s going to happen to them if they report it.”
“If there’s some language that we need to tune up a little bit, I’m certainly open to the idea” Burdick said. “Let’s keep our eye on the prize here…and the prize is saving a life today.”
Some of the changes being discussed include guaranteeing immunity for overdose victims and removing the 3-person limit on the number of people granted immunity in each case.
A bill is moving through the 2017 legislature that could adopt some of the proposed changes.
