Evaluating Community Knowledge and Intended Behavior Change as a Result of North Carolina's Recent Harm Reduction Laws: SB20 and HB850

Unintentional drug overdose is the second leading cause of accidental injury death in North Carolina (NC). In 2013, NC passed SB20: Good Samaritan/Naloxone Access and HB850: Possession of Needles/Tell Law Officer. Community knowledge and intended behavior change as a result of these laws was evaluated. Thirty-nine brief qualitative interviews were conducted in Durham, Chapel Hill and Charlotte, NC using purposive sampling. After hearing scenarios pertaining to SB20 and HB850, participants were asked how they would respond. The SB20 scenarios described a heroin overdose, and the HB850 scenario described a police search of an individual with a syringe. Analysis of descriptive statistics occurred in SAS and review of behavioral responses in Excel. Just 15.38% of participants knew they could not be prosecuted for a small amount of drugs if they called for help during an overdose. Despite that lack of knowledge, 92.31% would call for help. While 83.87% of participants would administer naloxone to an overdose victim if trained, only 51.28% knew they would be protected from civil liability for doing so. Finally, while 32.44% knew they could not be charged for paraphernalia if surrendered needles before a search, 67.86% would tell a law enforcement office they were carrying a syringe. Despite lacking knowledge of new policies, most participants would call for help during an overdose, would use naloxone if trained, and would tell an officer they had a syringe. More community education regarding changes to drug policies is needed along with more research to determine the impact of these laws.