Bill to expand Maine’s Good Samaritan law sent to governor

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — The Maine Legislature approved a compromise bill to expand a law shielding people who report drug overdoses. The governor is expected to sign it.

It builds on a 2019 law that exempts from criminal liability the person who calls 911 for help, along with the person who overdosed.

The goal is to encourage people to help instead of declining to report an overdose for fear of being arrested, supporters said.

Supporters say the so-called Good Samaritan law needed to be expanded as the state grapples with an epidemic of fatal overdoses that grew nearly 25%, topping 600, last year.

“With a record number of Mainers dying from overdoses, we need to confront the fact that what we’re doing now isn’t working. We listened to the people on the ground, the people who see overdoses in their community regularly, and they told us what needed to change,” said the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Chloe Maxmin, D-Nobleboro.

The original bill would’ve exempted from criminal liability anyone at the scene, but it was tweaked to exempt anyone who’s helping at the scene. It also expands the offenses that are immune from prosecution.