GATES COUNTY, N.C. — It’s a date both Susan and Kirk Anderson have constantly on their minds.
“9/21/21. A week before his birthday,” Susan said.
Whether through this tree at their Gates County, North Carolina home.
“That’s in memory of Michael,” Susan said of the tree.
Or the ink on Susan's arm.
“I miss him a lot, and I hate the way he died,” Susan said.
That day, Susan and Kirk’s grandson, Michael Warren, died of fentanyl poisoning in Hampton Roads.
“The fact that it was my first-born grandchild, it just helped me to realize it could be anybody,” Susan said.
Nearly a year and a half after Michael's death, they're supporting a push by local state senator Bobby Hanig (R-Currituck County), who represents many counties in northeast North Carolina.
Hanig is sponsoring a bill that would amend and expand North Carolina's 2013 Good Samaritan Law.
“It takes away a roadblock to getting somebody to help,” Kirk said.
The proposed law in North Carolina would offer criminal immunity to everyone at the scene of an overdose situation.
It's different than the 2013 Good Samaritan law, where only the overdose victim and the person calling for medical assistance on the victim's behalf would have limited criminal immunity, according to Hanig.
“Instead of just letting someone die in front of you, now people can have that assurance that they’re not going to get in trouble,” Susan said.
In addition, Hanig said the bill, which has bipartisan support, would add fentanyl to the list of drugs for which people would have criminal immunity.
“Currently, the person who calls and the person who overdoses, they are protected. It needs to be everybody at that scene,” said Roxana Ballinger, Health Education and Community Outreach Director for Dare County Health and Human Services.
Ballinger is also co-chair of the Saving Lives Task Force, which helps make resources accessible for those with substance abuse disorders in Dare County.
The push to change the state’s Good Samaritan Law is also personal Ballinger.
Her son, David Jones, also died from fentanyl last October in Portsmouth.
“The focus needs to be on saving lives, and not being afraid to call 911 if you have multiple people at a scene at an overdose,” Ballinger said.
She and others have passed out hundreds of fentanyl test kits in Dare County that can see if drugs contain fentanyl and offers resources for help.
Ballinger also told News 3, in 2021, 82 percent of Dare County’s deadly drug overdoses were linked to fentanyl.
“Fentanyl is killing people, and we want to educate the user community,” she said.
As for the Andersons, they hope to see the change happen.
“Somebody’s got to do it, so why not North Carolina,” Susan said.
Sen. Hanig said he's reached out to the NC Association of Chiefs of Police and the NC Sheriffs' Association for feedback to address any concerns they might have about the bill.
