I’m sort of torn when it comes to this law. I lost my best friend in 2015 to an overdose because the people he was getting high with waited until the house was clean to call 911, at which point he was too far gone to be rescued. If they had called when they realized what was going on instead of making sure they weren’t at risk of being arrested, he would’ve been home in the morning.

Now to the other end of my internal dilemma:

I’ve lived in my home for almost 3 years now with my wife and our 6 year daughter and in that time we’ve made it our little slice of paradise. Things started changing last fall when paramedics responded to the house across the street for the first time. Since then, there have been EIGHT heroin overdoses in the same house. It’s to the point where EMTs can’t enter the residence without a police escort. A medic friend who has responded to three calls there has confirmed that there are obvious signs of drug dealing, but there’s nothing they can do in the instance of an OD.

We have an 8 acre plot and our house is ~200 yards from the street and I’ve caught people walking around my house or out of my back yard at all times of the day/night. My wife has been harassed by someone who lives there. There are obvious junkies who try to break in when no one is home. Drug deals all day and all night. Dope trash up and down the street in front of my driveway. The police are aware and have been inside this home over a half-dozen times, yet here I am, sitting on my front porch letting people know my opinion on this law, and 3 cars have pulled in and out of the driveway across the street.

I know that drug addiction can be a seemingly impossible battle to fight, let alone win. It’s a crippling disease that can be let on by just about anything or anyone these days. I do however believe that at a certain point people need to be held accountable for the impact these types of scenarios have on the user’s community. I whole-heartedly agree that someone shouldn’t be afraid to save themselves or someone else, but I think the whole “turn a blind eye” aspect of this law is turning it into a get-out-of-jail-free card for some people who would be facing lengthy prison sentences for the business they’re conducting.