Probation Officers’ Use of Naloxone and the Good Samaritan Law

Like many government agencies, Community Corrections is working to address the opioid epidemic. (Jeff wrote about some of the other things the government is doing here.) Under a new administrative policy, North Carolina probation officers are carrying Naloxone kits to respond to probationers and others experiencing a drug overdose. The policy raises questions, including some related to the limited immunity available under the Good Samaritan law in G.S. 90-96.2. North Carolina’s probation officers are being equipped with NARCAN, which is the brand name of a Naloxone nasal spray that counteracts the effects of an opioid overdose. Many officers are currently undergoing training on how to use the kits, which they must do to use them under the authority granted by the State Health Director under G.S. 90-12.7. Most officers should be trained by the end of October. Under the policy, an officer who encounters a probationer or other person that appears to be experiencing a drug overdose is instructed to call 911, check the area for safety, don universal precautions, administer the NARCAN, and, if necessary, administer CPR. Officers are also instructed to seize any illegal or non-prescribed narcotics and give them to law enforcement. Some incidents in which an officer administers NARCAN could raise issues under the so-called Good Samaritan law set out in G.S. 90-96.2. That law was enacted in 2013 to give a limited grant of immunity from certain drug charges to people who seek assistance during a drug overdose. The idea, of course, was to encourage people [...]