The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently published a report evaluating Good Samaritan and Naloxone Access laws, as required by the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) of 2016. The report includes an overview of the Office of National Drug Control Policy’s (ONDCP) efforts to collect and disseminate information on the laws; the extent to which States, territories, and D.C. have these laws and the characteristics of them; and what research indicates concerning the effects of Good Samaritan laws. As described in the report, GAO found that ONDCP took multiple actions to track, study, and share information about Good Samaritan and Naloxone Access laws. The report also noted that 48 jurisdictions (47 States and D.C.) have enacted both laws. In addition, GAO reviewed 17 studies on the effectiveness of Good Samaritan laws and found a pattern of lower rates of opioid-related overdose deaths among States that enacted these laws.
Ann Tucker
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