Tanya Smith, medical amnesty laws: States are saving the lives of drug users.

Tanya Smith, medical amnesty laws: States are saving the lives of drug users.: Last August authorities found the body of Georgia police officer Tanya Smith’s 20-year-old daughter, Taylor, dead of a drug overdose. On the night of her death, Taylor and a few friends smoked methamphetamine in an apartment in Jasper, Georgia. When Taylor began struggling to breathe, her companions feared that calling 911 might summon the police. They tried to revive her themselves by throwing her in a cold shower. When Taylor died, they dumped her body in a roadside ditch near a trailer and fled. It was a terrible end to Taylor’s two-year battle with drug addiction.

After her daughter’s death, Smith fought hard to pass a new law to address situations like this, in which scared witnesses don’t call for help because of the specter of drugs. The resulting 911 Medical Amnesty Law, which Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed last month, encourages people to seek help for an overdose by granting limited immunity from some drug charges.

The argument against medical amnesty laws is that they protect drug dealers from prosecution and prevent police officers from enforcing drug laws. But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook. By limiting the quantity of drugs you can get immunity for, all 15 states with these laws have excluded dealers from protection. For example, in Georgia, a person can be charged with drug trafficking if he possesses 4 or more grams of heroin or 28 or more grams of cocaine. The new medical amnesty law only protects a person who possesses less than 4 grams of any solid narcotic. In every state to pass these laws, powerful sheriff and police chief associations have supported the efforts. In Florida, law enforcement even spearheaded the campaign for medical amnesty in 2012. Detective Gary Martin of the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office explains, “When most people witness an overdose, they’ll try all kinds of bizarre, dangerous ways to revive a person based off things they see on TV. We want them to call 911.”

Georgia’s new law also expands access to naloxone, which can reverse the effects of an overdose. (It works like the EpiPen.) Paramedics have used naloxone for decades; now the idea is to put it in the hands of laypeople by shielding them from civil liability if they give naloxone to an overdose victim and something goes wrong. (That’s rare.) Thanks in part to liability protections in 911 medical amnesty laws, more than 10,000 laypeople across the country have now used it to reverse overdoses.

A year before Tanya Smith’s daughter died, naloxone saved her from a heroin overdose.  

(Naloxone does not reverse the effects of methamphetamine.)

***



The section that stands out to me:

{The argument against medical amnesty laws is that they protect drug dealers from prosecution and prevent police officers from enforcing drug laws. But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook. By limiting the quantity of drugs you can get immunity for, all 15 states with these laws have excluded dealers from protection.}

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{The new medical amnesty law only protects a person who possesses less than 4 grams of any solid narcotic.}

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{In every state to pass these laws, powerful sheriff and police chief associations have supported the efforts.}

A year before Tanya Smith’s daughter died,
 (naloxone does not reverse the effects of methamphetamine.)
 naloxone saved her from a heroin overdose.  

 On the night of her death, 
(naloxone does not reverse the effects of methamphetamine.) 
Taylor and a few friends smoked methamphetamine in an apartment in Jasper, Georgia.

When Taylor began struggling to breathe,
(naloxone does not reverse the effects of methamphetamine.) 
her companions feared that calling 911 might summon the police.

Last August authorities found the body of Georgia police officer Tanya Smith’s 20-year-old daughter, 
Taylor,
(naloxone does not reverse the effects of methamphetamine.) 
 dead of a drug overdose.

When Taylor began struggling to breathe, 
(naloxone does not reverse the effects of methamphetamine.) 
her companions feared that calling 911 might summon the police.

 On the night of her death, 
(naloxone does not reverse the effects of methamphetamine.) 
Taylor and a few friends smoked methamphetamine in an apartment in Jasper, Georgia.

A year before Tanya Smith’s daughter died,
 (naloxone does not reverse the effects of methamphetamine.)
 naloxone saved her from a heroin overdose.  


It was a terrible end to Taylor’s two-year battle with drug addiction.  
(naloxone does not reverse the effects of methamphetamine.) 

A Second Chance

A new kind of medical amnesty law is saving the lives of drug users.

After her daughter’s death, Smith fought hard to pass a new law to address situations like this, 
(But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook.)
in which scared witnesses don’t call for help because of the specter of drugs. 

The resulting 911 Medical Amnesty Law, which Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed last month, 
(But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook.)
encourages people to seek help for an overdose by granting limited immunity from some drug charges.

The argument against medical amnesty laws is that they protect drug dealers from prosecution and prevent 
(But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook.)
police officers from enforcing drug laws.  

 By limiting the quantity of drugs you can get immunity for, 
(But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook.)
all 15 states with these laws have excluded dealers from protection. 

Last August authorities found the body of Georgia police officer Tanya Smith’s 20-year-old daughter, 
Taylor, 
(But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook.)
dead of a drug overdose.

When Taylor began struggling to breathe,
(But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook.)
her companions feared that calling 911 might summon the police.

 On the night of her death, 

(But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook.)
Taylor and a few friends smoked methamphetamine in an apartment in Jasper, Georgia.

It was a terrible end to Taylor’s two-year battle with drug addiction.
(But medical amnesty does not let dealers off the hook.)

A Second Chance

A new kind of medical amnesty law is saving the lives of drug users.

The argument against medical amnesty laws is that they protect drug dealers from prosecution 
(In every state to pass these laws, powerful sheriff and police chief associations have supported the efforts.)
and prevent police officers from enforcing drug laws.  

By limiting the quantity of drugs you can get immunity for, 
(In every state to pass these laws, powerful sheriff and police chief associations have supported the efforts.)
all 15 states with these laws have excluded dealers from protection.

On the night of her death, 
(In every state to pass these laws, powerful sheriff and police chief associations have supported the efforts.)
Taylor and a few friends smoked methamphetamine in an apartment in Jasper, Georgia.

Last August authorities found the body of Georgia police officer Tanya Smith’s 20-year-old daughter, 
Taylor, 
(In every state to pass these laws, powerful sheriff and police chief associations have supported the efforts.)
dead of a drug overdose.

It was a terrible end to Taylor’s two-year battle with drug addiction.
(In every state to pass these laws, powerful sheriff and police chief associations have supported the efforts.)

A Second Chance

A new kind of medical amnesty law is saving the lives of drug users.

Nor is methamphetamine a solid narcotic.
(It was a terrible end to Taylor’s two-year battle with drug addiction.)
The new medical amnesty law only protects a person who possesses less than 4 grams of any solid narcotic.

Last August authorities found the body of Georgia police officer Tanya Smith’s 20-year-old daughter, 
Taylor, 
(It was a terrible end to Taylor’s two-year battle with drug addiction.)
dead of a drug overdose.

On the night of her death, 
It was a terrible end to Taylor’s two-year battle with drug addiction.
Taylor and a few friends smoked methamphetamine in an apartment in Jasper, Georgia.



When Taylor began struggling to breathe,
(It was a terrible end to Taylor’s two-year battle with drug addiction.)
her companions feared that calling 911 might summon the police.

When Taylor died, 
(It was a terrible end to Taylor’s two-year battle with drug addiction.)
they dumped her body in a roadside ditch near a trailer and fled. 

***

DRUG DEALERS ARE NOT THE PROBLEM!

***

GLENN MEMORIAL 

UNITED(?)METHODIST(?)CHURCH

Upcoming Events

Overdose Awareness and Prevention Night

May 31, 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m., Ward Hall

All youth and parents are invited to this program.
Drug overdoses have overtaken automobile accidents as the leading cause of
 ?accidental? 
death in the United States.
Georgia Overdose Prevention, a group of parents, health care professionals and friends who have been personally affected by drug addiction and overdose will discuss their experiences with the loss of their loved one, the new GA Medical Amnesty Law, recovery and hope. Dinner is provided.

REALITY

IS A 

CREATION 

OF OUR 

EXCESSES.
~(EMIL CIORAN)~

CHANGED MY MIND!

LUMP PREACHERS IN WITH THEM...

MOST ESPECIALLY 

G. ROBERT GARY, SR. ThD,

THEN DRUG DEALERS ARE THE 

PROBLEMS.

Bob Gary Th.D, Member AAPC Specialties: Individuals, Couples, Families, Groups, Church/Organizational Consultant, Pastoral Consultant, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Grief, Transitions, Depression Contact Information: 404-636-1457 ext. 425 bgary@cccgeorgia.org Counseling Centers: CCCG Main Office – Decatur (Decatur, GA)

HOW DOES ONE SELL A DRUG TO AN

 AUDIENCE THAT HAS ALREADY BOUGHT 

IT..?

CAIN IN THE UNITED STATES

Did life not begin the day we all be 
"CAIN" 
witness to death however briefly 
"ABEL" 
a witness to life..?