911 medical amnesty law | Journalism 3190

By: Chassity Adams

Compared to other states, Georgia is experiencing significant increases in deaths due to drug overdoses. The death rate has tripled since 1999.

People of all ages and ethnicities are dying within the state due to the abuse of opioid drugs, the lack of knowledge on medical amnesty laws and the availability of naloxone, the treatment for an opioid overdose – common ones including heroin and prescription drugs such as oxycodone, hydrocodone and fentanyl.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), since 1999 sales of prescription opioid drugs have increased, and deaths involving these drugs have quadrupled. The abuse of heroin in young adults 18-25 has more than doubled in the past decade, with 45 percent of heroin abusers also addicted to prescription opioid painkillers. In 2013, more than 8,200 people died of a heroin-related overdose. Since 2014, every aspect of the opioid death epidemic has worsened.

heroin-graph — Graphic provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

In 2014, Georgia amended state laws with the passing of Georgia 9-1-1 Medical Amnesty Law and Expanded Naloxone Access Law, providing immunity, or protection from arrest, to those who seek medical assistance for themselves, or another person who is experiencing a drug or alcohol-related overdose. The bill also protects minors seeking medical attention for certain underage drinking offenses. Not only does the law provide immunity for possession of certain drugs, probation and parole violations, drug paraphernalia and alcohol consumption, but the law also increases access to the treatment for opioid overdose, naloxone. Georgia Overdose Prevention (GOP) created and testified for the success of this law.

“After our law passed, we focused our efforts on educating Georgians about our law and the protection it provides, and on distributing naloxone rescue kits and training to anyone at high risk of opioid overdose,” said Laurie Fugitt, co-founder of Georgia Overdose Prevention.

“To date our kits, in combination with Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition’s (AHRC) kits, have saved 461 lives that we know about. Additionally, our law has resulted in 57 Georgia law enforcement departments carrying naloxone, and those departments saved 91 lives.”

The 461 lives saved by the GOP and AHRM kits were administered by community members: relatives, friends and drug abusers. These kits allow more time for a victim to receive proper medical attention in order to prevent death.

The Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Chiefs of Police, Frank Rotondo, has been a long supporter of naloxone programs for law enforcement, testifying his support of the 911 Medical Amnesty and Expanded Naloxone Access Law, and distributing information to all Georgia police chiefs, encouraging the establishment of naloxone programs.

“The support of these programs is a no brainer from my point of view,” says Rotondo. “A very clear example was a police lieutenant whose daughter died of an overdose, and she wasn’t able to assist her daughter.

“Friends left her daughter on the side of the road after partying. She died when she could have been saved. That female lieutenant told me, all her life she lived for her daughter and the one time her daughter asked for help, she couldn’t help her.”

University police departments across Georgia have taken part in establishing naloxone programs. As of 2016, 12 Georgia colleges’ law departments are equipped with naloxone including the University of Georgia and Kennesaw State University which has successfully led to three on-campus drug overdose reversals. In 2017, Georgia State University will also carry naloxone.

On top of UGA’s reversal kits, the Athens-Clarke County Police Department (ACCPD) deployed 30 kits this past year, recently deploying another 100 kits, according to Deputy Chief of Police Justin Gregory.

“Like many issues, we cannot mandate carrying naloxone without funding it,” says Gregory. “I do believe that progressive agencies are setting the stage for what police should be doing. The Athens-Clarke County Police Department will continue to evolve with providing medical services that might save lives.

“Abuse of prescription drugs are one of our biggest problems.”

According to Lieutenant Ben Dickens, the ACCPD used naloxone 8 times in the past year, with 7 successful reversals.

“The other time was on an elderly female who thought to have accidentally overdosed on pain pills, but there was probably a lot more going on health wise than that,” said Dickens. “Of note, we only had a small number of kits to officers during this last year. We are now pushing it out to all patrol officers and expect the usage rate to go up.”

Drug overdose totals between 2010 - 2015 by county in Georgia. Created by: HIDTA Intelligence — Georgia drug overdose totals by county between 2010 – 2015. Provided by: HIDTA Intelligence

Cobb County, Fulton County and Gwinnett County, all located in metro-Atlanta, are experiencing the highest drug overdose rates in Georgia. Gwinnett County, one of the 57 Georgia law enforcement departments carrying naloxone, experienced 406 overdose deaths between 2010 – 2015. Fulton County has experienced 696 known overdose deaths between 2010 – 2015. Earlier this year, at the urging of District Attorney Paul Howard and the Fulton County Heroin Task Force, the Fulton County commissioners voted unanimously to allocate $49,000 to fund naloxone for first responders.

Cobb County, experiencing 548 overdose deaths between the same years, has yet to fund naloxone to first responders. According to the GOP, the Cobb County police chief believes emergency responders can meet the need at overdose scenes.

Rotondo believes that every law enforcement agency should carry naloxone, but city and county budgets limit these resources.

“It is probably one of the simplest decisions I had to make to say that’s a very good bill, all law enforcement agencies should have it- it’s reasonably priced,” says Rotondo. “Why all don’t have it is a question of money, because the reality of it is that all law enforcement agents feel the same way I do – it’s better to save people.

“It’s a practical problem, but I would love to see a solution to where money can go to that program in every law enforcement agency.”

The Federal government supports the development and distribution of the life-saving naloxone drug. The CDC encourages states to increase access to substance abuse treatment services, ensure people have access to integrated prevention services and expand access and training for administering naloxone to reduce opioid overdose deaths. The CDC also encourages health care providers to use prescription drug monitoring programs, prescribe the lowest effective dose and quantity needed for each patient and link patients with substance use disorders to effective substance abuse treatment services.

screen-shot-2016-11-28-at-12-17-52-am — Graphic provided by Georgia Overdose Prevention

Unintentional opioid drug overdoses are taking the lives of teenagers, college students and adults of all ages. Every 13 minutes an unintentional drug overdose occurs in the U.S., making the increase in naloxone availability an absolute necessity. The epidemic is growing, and Georgia residents need to be aware of the very real problem that is impacting their friends, family and neighbors. Communities need to come together in support of all emergency responders carrying the life-saving naloxone drug and educating residents on amnesty laws protecting those seeking medical attention.

How to save a life:

The Georgia Overdose Prevention and Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition provides free, easy and safe law enforcement alternatives to receiving a naloxone kit. Kits can be requested by emailing info@georgiaoverdoseprevention.org or monab@ahrc-atl.org. Emails should include the city you reside so the closest distributing location can be provided. Kits can also be requested by messaging the Georgia 911 Good Samaritan Law Facebook page. Doctors now legally can write a naloxone prescription for any person who knows a person at risk of an overdose. Prescriptions can be written for either EVZIO auto injector, intranasal naloxone or intramuscular naloxone

Donations to offset the cost ($40) of the GOP obtaining these life saving kits can be made to the Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition on their website or by calling (404) 817-9994.

Harm reduction practices:

Never use alone. If you use alone, there’s no one to call 911 or to give you naloxone.
Have naloxone and make sure everyone knows where it’s kept and how to use the reversal medicine.
Before using with peers, state an overdose plan such as: if anyone gets in trouble, someone will call 911 and will safely administer the naloxone.
Don’t use all of your drugs at once (or the same dosage as before rehab or any period of abstinence as it could lead to sudden death). Do a smaller test dose shot and see how you feel. Sometimes what people think they are getting is not what they are getting.

Lookout for legislation:

The 2017-2018 legislative session will include legislation the GOP and AHRC hope to become a reality. Under a standing order, the legislation would allow pharmacies in Georgia to dispense naloxone and allow people to obtain naloxone from pharmacists without having a prescription. The AHRC is also pushing for legislation that would permit the legalization of syringe exchange programs. These programs would greatly decrease the incidences of HIV, Hep B and Hep C cases by allowing old syringes to be exchanged for new ones.

Georgia Police Departments Using Naloxone Kits and No. of Successful Reversals To Date: (Provided by GOP)