Chris Christie to sign drug overdose prevention bill in Barnert Medical
By P.T.
Published: May 2, 2013
Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, is set to make his second trip to Paterson this year, to sign a drug overdose prevention bill, a law that grants immunity to certain drug users.
The new law aims to curtail deaths from drug overdose; at present when a group of individuals are engaged in the consumption of illegal drugs, if one of the group member overdoses, and another decides to call 911, the entire group is arrested on drug charges. The new bill makes it so this does not happen, in other words, when an individual has overdosed and a fellow drug user calls 911 the caller is protected from drug related arrest and prosecution.
Jon Bon Jovi, a musician, will be present at the bill signing, which is slated to take place this afternoon at the Turning Point faculty inside the Barnert Medical Arts Complex, located on Broadway in Paterson. The daughter of Mr Bon Jovi, while attending Hamilton College in New York State, overdosed on heroin, a friend called 911, and neither the friend nor Stephanie Bongiovi, the daughter of the rocker, were arrested on drug possession.
This bill mimics the New York law in order to save the lives of those who overdose and prevent the prosecution of those who call 911 to seek help for the overdoser.