The Maine House on Monday voted 83-52 in favor of a bill that exempts all people present at an overdose from arrest unless they are accused of a violent crime.
The action follows a Friday vote of approval — without a roll call — in the Senate. Another round of voting is needed before the legislation heads to Gov. Janet Mills.
Sen. Chloe Maxmin (D-Nobleboro) sponsored LD 1862, which seeks to update Maine’s three-year-old Good Samaritan law. Currently, anyone who calls for help — and the person who has overdosed —is protected from being arrested for drug-related offenses.
But after speaking to public health advocates, Maxmin told Spectrum News Maine last week it’s necessary to expand the list to anyone present at an overdose. Last year, Maine lost an estimated 626 Mainers to overdoses, 77% of which were linked to fentanyl.
“People are afraid of the consequences if they call for help because there are not enough protections, so we are trying to fix that,” she said.
While it provides immunity from arrest to most of those present at an overdose, it does allow police to arrest those accused of violent crimes such as sexual assault, kidnapping, aggravated sex trafficking and aggravated attempted murder.
During Monday’s House debate, Sen. Maggie O’Neil (D-Saco) said she’s lost friends to overdoses and she knows they were not alone when they died.
“We’ve lost a generation to this crisis,” she said. “Please make this change so people feel safe to call for help. If this bill saves even one life, it will be worth it.”
Rep. Victoria Doudera (D-Camden) said she has lost a distant family member to overdose, someone who would have turned 32 this year.
“The fact is we shattered our record for overdose deaths last year,” she said. “We don’t know what we’re on track for this year but we know it’s not good. We’ve heard from our constituents, we’ve heard from advocates who work in this field that this bill before us will help. I don’t know how we can ignore that.”
Following Friday’s Senate vote, the Expand Good Sam Coalition, which represents recovery, harm reduction and reentry advocates, released a statement saying they were “thrilled by today’s vote.”
“As long as individuals are afraid to call 911 because of the threat of criminal penalties, Maine will continue to be plagued by preventable overdose deaths,” the group said. “If we want to save lives, we have to stop punishing people for using drugs.”
Previously, the Maine Department of Public Safety asked lawmakers to support a more narrowly tailored version of the bill that’s consistent with other states. Commissioner Michael Sauschuck said immunity from arrest could create unintended consequences, including exempting from arrest the person who sold the lethal drugs to the victim.
Mills’ spokeswoman Lindsay Crete did not respond Monday to a request for comment on the version of the bill that passed the House and Senate.