State lawmakers are being asked to
approve a bill that would provide immunity for those trying to help themselves
or others at the scene of a drug overdose.
The bill creating the Alcohol and
Drug Overdose Prevention and Clemency Act is in the House of Delegates. Delaware resident David Humes is pushing for the
legislation, also called 911 Good Samaritan laws, to save lives in West Virginia
Humes’ 24-year-old son Greg died in
May 2012. Greg was out with friends and accidently overdosed while using drugs.
Instead of calling 911, his friends drove him to a hospital parking lot and
abandoned him without alerting anyone. By the time he was discovered, it was
too late. Greg’s death was especially hard for David and his wife Gail because
someone could’ve saved him.
“You have an opportunity to save a
life or you have an opportunity to maybe arrest someone. What’s more
important?” Humes said Thursday on “It says who we are as a society, which one
of those things we choose to do.”
The detective following Greg’s case
informed Humes of the 911 Good Samaritan law, stating his son could’ve possibly
been saved. Humes turned those words into actions and is now working towards
saving lives in cases like Greg’s by pushing similar laws beyond Delaware
Humes said the problem with
possibly passing the two versions of the bill, including SB 523 and HB 2631, is
that alcohol and drug users are not aware of what they can or cannot do in
similar situations.
“They don’t have their law books
with them. They don’t have the time to sit there and decide ‘Do I meet this
criteria or this criteria?’ and so I think we ought to make these immunizations
for calling 911 as broad as possible,” Humes said.
Humes said he learned that heroin
addicts are ashamed of their use after volunteering at an intensive outpatient
group. He said because they feel this way, it does not make sense to avoid
calling 911 for help. He said he thinks there are a lot of misconceptions of
heroin use.
“The thing in people’s minds is
that they’re out partying on this drug, which isn’t true” he said, “Typically
it’s two or three gathered together and they decide to chase this high.”
Humes said it can be difficult to
try and get the message out on the street level. He said they need more funding
to create the awareness by the respective states. Overall, he said he wanted to
do something to prevent other parents from traveling down the same path.
If the bill passes, it will have move to the House Judiciary for
consideration.
