ArticleThe International journal on drug policy2021
Good Samaritan laws and overdose mortality in the United States in the fentanyl era.
Article in The International journal on drug policy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 53 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and correlates of fentanyl test strip use among people who use drugs in Rhode Island.Drug and alcohol dependence · 2024Trial
- Contrasting perspectives and applications of the Good Samaritan Overdose Prevention Law: insights from people who use and distribute drugs in Rhode Island.Health & justice · 2026Article
- The public health impacts of drug-induced homicide laws: a community-engaged scoping review.Health & justice · 2026Article
- Community supervision during Oregon's partial decriminalization Measure 110: Criminal legal system involvement, overdose, and naloxone access.Drug and alcohol dependence reports · 2026Article
- Illicit drug supply, naloxone availability, and overdose mortality in the fentanyl era: a systematic review.Health affairs scholar · 2026Review
- Proportion of Fentanyl Reports in Illicit Drug Seizures and Opioid Mortality.JAMA health forum · 2026Article
- Barriers to bystander interventions in suspected opioid-associated out-of-hospital cardiac arrests: A multiple methods study of 9-1-1 calls.Resuscitation · 2025Article
- Improving Policy Evaluations Of The Opioid Crisis.Health affairs (Project Hope) · 2025Article
- Opportunities for employers to address the opioid epidemic: results from a national survey.Health affairs scholar · 2025Article
- Evidence for the efficacy of humanizing narratives to promote support for harm-reduction policies in the United States.Harm reduction journal · 2025Article
- Epidemiology of 911 Calls for Opioid Overdose in Nogales, Arizona.The western journal of emergency medicine · 2025Article
- How do restrictions on opioid prescribing, harm reduction, and treatment coverage policies relate to opioid overdose deaths in the United States in 2013-2020? An application of a new state opioid policy scale.The International journal on drug policy · 2025Article
- Drug Decriminalization, Fentanyl, and Fatal Overdoses in Oregon.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- Using qualitative system dynamics modeling to understand overdose bystander behavior in the context of Connecticut's Good Samaritan Laws and identify effective policy options.Harm reduction journal · 2024Article
- Characteristics of Alcohol, Marijuana, and Other Drug Use Among Persons Aged 13-18 Years Being Assessed for Substance Use Disorder Treatment - United States, 2014-2022.MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report · 2024Article
- "We only trust each other": A qualitative study exploring the overdose risk environment among persons who inject drugs living with HIV in Nairobi, Kenya.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Naloxone expansion is not associated with increases in adolescent heroin use and injection drug use: Evidence from 44 US states.The International journal on drug policy · 2023Article
- "It's just another tool on my toolbelt": New York state law enforcement officer experiences administering naloxone.Harm reduction journal · 2023Article
- Changes in Perceptions of First Responders After Witnessing a Drug Overdose: Individual and Contextual Variations Among People Who Use Opioids in West Virginia.Journal of Appalachian health · 2023Article
- Persistent Criminalization and Structural Racism in US Drug Policy: The Case of Overdose Good Samaritan Laws.American journal of public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAs of July 2018, 45 United States (US) states and the District of Columbia have enacted an overdose Good Samaritan law (GSL). These laws, which provide limited criminal immunity to individuals who request assistance during an overdose, may be of importance in the current wave of the overdose epidemic, which is driven primarily by illicit opioids including heroin and fentanyl. There are substantial differences in the structures of states' GSL laws which may impact their effectiveness. This study compared GSLs which have legal provisions protecting from arrest and laws which have more limited protections.
methodsUsing national county-level overdose mortality data from 3109 US counties, we examined the association of enactment of GSLs with protection from arrest and GSLs with more limited protections with subsequent overdose mortality between 2013 and 2018. Since GSLs are often enacted in conjunction with Naloxone Access Laws (NAL), we examined the effect of GSLs separately and in conjunction with NAL. We conducted these analyses using hierarchical Bayesian spatiotemporal Poisson models.
resultsGSLs with protections against arrest enactment in conjunction with a NAL were associated with 7% lower rates of all overdose deaths (rate ratio (RR): 0.93% Credible Interval (CI): 0.89-0.97), 10% lower rates in opioid overdose deaths (RR: 0.90; CI: 0.85-0.95) and 11% lower rates of heroin/synthetic overdose mortality (RR: 0.89; CI: 0.82-0.96) two years after enactment, compared to rates in states without these laws. Significant reductions in overdose mortality were not seen for GSLs with protections for charge or prosecution.
conclusionGSLs with more expansive legal protections combined with a NAL, were associated with lower rates of overdose deaths, although these risk reductions take time to manifest. Policy makers should consider enacting and implementing more expansive GSLs with arrest protections to increase the likelihood people will contact emergency services in the event of an overdose.
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