Parents push for '911 Good Samaritan' bill

ALBANY -- Long Island parents who came to the Capitol Tuesday call it a nightmare scenario.

A teen overdoses on drugs or alcohol but her friends don't call 911 for help, fearing they might be arrested at the scene -- leaving her without assistance. Leaving her for dead.

It happened to the daughter of Victor Ciappa of Massapequa, one of about a dozen Island parents who ventured to the State Capitol Tuesday to lobby for what they call the "911 Good Samaritan" bill.

The proposed measure essentially would limit police from going after friends of the overdose victim for possession of small amounts of drugs or alcohol. Ciappa said it could prevent what happened to Natalie, his daughter, who died of a well-publicized heroin overdose in 2008.

"She was at a party," Ciappa said at a news conference. "We found her facedown on a couch. There were 20 kids at that party. No one dialed 911."

When police tracked down some of the participants later, Ciappa said: "All of them said they didn't call [911] because they didn't want to get busted."

The Democrat-dominated Assembly has passed the bill; the Republican-led Senate hasn't acted. But the bill appeared to garner new momentum when the head of the state District Attorneys Association told Newsday that prosecutors would support it if a few changes were made to ensure it didn't inadvertently protect drug dealers.

"We've been going back and forth on this all day," said Derek Champagne, Franklin County district attorney and head of the state association."We think they can address the concerns."

Specifically, prosecutors want to make sure immunity doesn't apply to a person who supplied the victim with drugs "in the course of a business transaction" -- i.e., a drug dealer.

"We don't want a scenario where a dealer sells to 40 people, 15 of them die because the product is no good, then he claims immunity because he brought one of the . . . [victims] to the ER," Champagne said.Activists met with Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and Senate Health Committee Chairman Kemp Hannon (R-Garden City). Several legal definitions had to be hashed out, Hannon noted, while adding: "I think we'll reach this goal."

He said that "there will be a push" to pass the bill before the legislature adjourns, scheduled for June 20.

The issue is especially troubling on the Island, which saw 370 overdose deaths in 2009, said Jeffrey Reynolds, executive director of the Long Island council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence.

"We're in the midst of a crisis," Reynolds said. "We're losing upwards of a person a day on Long Island due to overdose. Some of those deaths can be prevented. Sending a message that if you call for help, you won't be prosecuted is absolutely critical."

Ciappa's message to lawmakers: pass the bill immediately. "God forbid the next kid this happens to is related to you," Ciappa said. "You'll never forgive yourself."