Governor Abbott to Drug Overdosers: Drop Dead

[TexasTowelie]

Texas House Bill 225 was not controversial. As written by Rio Grande City state Representative Ryan Guillen, it would have allowed people who call 911 to help a friend who's overdosed on drugs avoid charges for possessing a small amount of drugs themselves. So-called Good Samaritan provisions already exist in 24 states and Washington, D.C.

HB 225 passed the otherwise acrimonious Texas Senate 30-1. It passed the Texas House 140-4.

The protection for prosecution would have extended only to the first person who called 911 as long as he or she stuck around and cooperated with medical personnel. It would not have protected those in possession of large quantities of drugs, like, say, a dealer.

Governor Greg Abbott doesn't care. He vetoed the bill Monday, almost two weeks after it was sent to his desk and just after the Legislature went home for the session, making a veto override impossible.

Read more: http://www.dallasobserver.com/news/governor-abbott-to-drug-overdosers-drop-dead-7278940

[Sherman A1]

1. What a "thoughtful" and "well meaning" individual

this Governor appears to be.....

[get the red out]

2. I would bet

This SOB is all "right to life" too.

[Sherman A1]

3. Well,

Gee, one would hope that to be the case. I mean after all...

[joshdawg]

5. A**hole abbott

is bush/perry on steroids.
His picture is next to the definition of sleazy in the dictionary. Patrick is a close second.
republican-controlled government here is why Texas has a bad rep.

[OldRedneck]

4. Gotta admit -- I am of two minds about this

As I understand the bill, if someone OD's, and someone else calls 911, the person who made the call will not be charged with possession provided the caller: (1) stays on the scene and cooperates with medical personnel (and, presumably, with the cops); (2) has only a small amount of drugs in his/her possession. If the person who made the call has a "large amount" of drugs, then, the caller can be charged with possession.

I'm an Advanced Life Support EMT with a rescue squad in rural Virginia. Our rural county has the same drug problems as "the big city," however, we don't have a lot of OD calls -- only 3 so far this year. Every OD call I have run involves not just a bunch of good ol' boys and girls getting themselves doped up -- on every OD call I have run, I go into the house and find CHILDREN, usually small kids, 2-3 years old, and it's not unusual to find infants in the home with the drug use going on. If it were left up to me, I'd throw the whole crowd of "adults" in jail for a long time and take the children away.

On the other hand, there's no simple solution and jail likely won't solve a thing.

[Enthusiast]

6. Real nice, Abbott, you evil fuck.

[Gothmog]

7. Greg Abbot is an idiot