Save the Samaritans
State drug reform

After his daughter nearly died from a heroin overdose, Wisconsin state Rep. John Nygren (R-Marinette) began campaigning for a law to protect people who call for help in similar situations. In a five-minute YouTube video, Nygren explained that his daughter Cassie almost died because her acquaintances fled the scene and refused to call 911, fearing legal trouble.
In October Nygren introduced a bill that would protect people who seek aid for overdose victims from being arrested for drug possession. Fourteen other states have such laws on the books. Nygren seems to have local law enforcement on his side. "My county sheriff says you can't arrest your way out of this problem," he told WUMW-FM.
Editor's Note: As of February 29, 2024, commenting privileges on reason.com posts are limited to Reason Plus subscribers. Past commenters are grandfathered in for a temporary period. Subscribe here to preserve your ability to comment. Your Reason Plus subscription also gives you an ad-free version of reason.com, along with full access to the digital edition and archives of Reason magazine. We request that comments be civil and on-topic. We do not moderate or assume any responsibility for comments, which are owned by the readers who post them. Comments do not represent the views of reason.com or Reason Foundation. We reserve the right to delete any comment and ban commenters for any reason at any time. Comments may only be edited within 5 minutes of posting. Report abuses.
Please
to post comments
s to have local law enforcement on his side. "My county s