This grassroots campaign is both an educational campaign to teach people that the Good Sam Law exists and a bi-partisan call to action to expand the legal protection of people at the scene of an overdose.

Please join Senator Maxmin, Representative LaRochelle, and a group of advocates on Zoom to learn more about the Good Sam Law and a bi-partisan effort to expand it in Maine on Tuesday, January 18th from 6 to 7:30 pm EST.

A zoom link will be sent to you as soon as you sign up for the event.

This bill is sponsored by Senator Chloe Maxmin (D), and co-sponsored by Senator Pouliot (R), Rep LaRochelle (D), Senator Moore (R), Rep Crafts (D), Rep Warren (D), and Rep McCrea (D).

What is the Good Samaritan Law?

On May 23, 2019, Governor Janet Mills signed LD 329, An Act To Exempt from Criminal Liability Persons Reporting a Drug-related Medical Emergency (known as the Good Samaritan Bill), into law. The bill came to her desk with unanimous support from the Maine Legislature. Maine’s Good Samaritan Law prevents a person from being arrested or prosecuted for certain violations if the grounds for that arrest or prosecution resulting from the person experiencing a drug-related overdose or seeking medical assistance for someone else who is.

Who does it currently protect?

• A person who, in good faith, seeks medical assistance for a person experiencing a drug-related overdose
• A person who is experiencing an overdose and needs medical assistance

What do the protections currently cover?

Maine’s Good Samaritan Law protects you from arrest or prosecution for violating laws prohibiting:

• Possession of scheduled drugs
• Acquiring drugs by deception
• Possession of hypodermic apparatuses
• Use of drug paraphernalia
• Violation of probation

This bill helps to make it easier to do the right thing – to save a person’s life – without worrying that you might ruin your own life (or theirs) in the process.

Why do we need to expand the Good Samaritan Law?

The current Good Samaritan Law, while well intended, is limited in scope and the threat of criminal penalties continues to instill fear in individuals at the scene of an overdose, hindering them from calling for help. We are losing 12 of our friends, family, and neighbors each week to preventable overdose. It’s critical that we support LR 2476: An Act to Strengthen Maine’s Good Sam Laws Concerning Drug-Related Medical Assistance and make it as easy as possible for people to call 911.

What would LD 1862: An Act to Strengthen Maine’s Good Sam Laws Concerning Drug-Related Medical Assistance do to expand the Good Samaritan Law?

LD 1862: An Act to Strengthen Maine’s Good Sam Laws Concerning Drug-Related Medical Assistance would expand the Good Samaritan Law to shield everyone at the scene of an overdose from arrest or prosecution for all non-violent crimes, probation, and bail condition violations. This would ensure that EVERYONE feels safe to call 911 and save lives.

Why are laws like this important?

Because they have been proven to save lives.

Maine is one of 47 other states and the District of Columbia that have enacted some form of a Good Samaritan or 911 drug immunity law. A 2020 study by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found a nationwide pattern of lower opioid-related overdose death rates among states that have enacted Good Samaritan laws, both compared to death rates prior to a law’s enactment and death rates in states without such laws. Studies also found that people are more likely to call 911 if they are aware of the laws. You can download an overview of the study here or read the full study here.

The fear of criminalization makes it hard to call 911 and makes recovery from substance use even harder.

We all agree that the stigma attached to substance use disorder is a problem and it makes recovery harder. One of the biggest factors creating stigma is the criminalization of people who use drugs. The fear of criminalization makes it harder to call 911. And the stigma of criminalization has real effects on people’s access to:

• Housing: Most landlords conduct criminal background checks and can deny housing based on any criminal conviction and federal housing assistance programs are required to deny applicants who have been evicted from public housing within the past 3 years for drug-related reasons.

• Employment: Unfortunately, job applicants with a criminal record are 50 percent less likely to receive a call-back from submitting a job application.

• Education: If a person is convicted for possession or sale of drugs for conduct that occurred while the person was enrolled in school, the person becomes ineligible for future federal student loans.

Arrest and incarceration destabilize an individual’s life, including their housing, health care, employment, and social connectedness. Even brief incarceration leads to adverse consequences, including loss of employment and future employment opportunities, poorer physical and behavioral health due to breaks in health care services and treatment, loss of housing and future housing opportunities, and disruptions in family life and social connections.

Once in the criminal justice system, people with substance use disorders stay in jails longer, have an increased risk for self-harm, and receive more frequent punitive responses to infractions. Due to funding and staffing limitations, most people do not receive the services they need and their conditions often worsen inside jail settings.

Furthermore, for individuals already receiving medications and treatment for substance use in the community, these services may be interrupted during incarceration, creating lapses in treatment and difficulties in resuming treatment upon release and reentry to the community.

Action Steps

As we gear up for the legislative session there are a few action steps you can take:

• Share About Our Campaign: By sharing this link with your friends and family - www.tinyurl.com/ExpandGoodSam4ME
• Join our campaign: Get notified when it's time to take action by filling out this form!
• Letter to the Editor: Write a letter to the editor! If you are interested in doing this please draft up your letter, put it into a google document, and email it to wltate@colby.com, courtney@recoveryvoices.com, and qkhan@aclumaine.org. We will support you in editing and publishing.
  • Here is an example of an LTE and helpful tips when writing one.
  • Here is a video training on how to engage with the media/write an LTE.
  • Here is a list of all the newspapers in Maine and how many words the LTE can be.
• Make a video: Submit a video or email your story to be featured in the Good Sam documentary. Please send your video to courtney@recoveryvoices.com & recoveryOTR18@gmail.com. Also, upload it on your social media and tag your representatives!
  • Use the talking points above to tell your story about why the Good Sam Law should be expanded.
  • Opening: My name is [xxx]. I live in [City], Maine. I am a [person in recovery/ally to the recovery/drug-using/harm reduction/etc community]. I am calling on my State Representative, Representative [x], my State Senator, Senator [x], and Governor Janet Mills to support the expansion of the Good Sam Law to include protections for everyone at the scene of an overdose from being charged with all non-violent crimes, bail, and pretrial violations. [Insert your story]
  • IMPORTANT: Check to see if your Representative/Senator is a co-sponsor of the bill. If so, make sure you thank them for co-sponsoring in your video!
  • Find your representative/senator at https://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/