Lucas Gordon
ECON 102:54
2/26/17
NBER Summary 5
With a Little Help from my Friends: The Effects of Naloxone Access and Good Samaritan
Laws on Opiod-Related Deaths
In the last several decades, there has been a movement to create legislation that
encourages bystanders to assist in the case of medical emergencies involving consumption of
banned or illegal substances such as opiods. In particular, the Naxolene Access Law gave
civilians the right to administer naxolene, a drug that eases some of the effects of an opiod
overdose, and the Good Samaritan Law minimizes punishment for anyone that seeks the aid of a
medical professional in the case of an overdose. Daniel Rees, Joseph Sabia, Laura Argys, Joshua
Latshaw, and Dhaval Dave used data from the National Vital Statistics System from 1999-2014
to witness changes in opiod-overdose fatalities as these laws were introduced. The Naxolene
Access Law was determined to be associated with a 9-11 percent decrease in opiod fatalities but
the Good Samaritan Law was not associated with a statistically significant change. One of the