Wednesday, May 15, 2013
A two-year battle for Blackwood's Patty DiRenzo ends in victory: 'Lives are going to be saved' from New Jersey's 911 Good Samaritan drug law, she says.
When Gov. Chris Christie at long last signed the 911 Good Samaritan bill, it signaled many things. No longer would bystanders be prosecuted for seeking help for an overdose victim. Drug addicts have a better shot at life. Maybe one less person will die alone and scared. All of these things ran through Blackwood’s Patty DiRenzo’s mind as she watched Christie turn the legislation she championed for years into law. But primarily, her mind was on her son, Sal. Sal, the guy who everyone loved. The guy who never had a nasty word for anyone. Once you were Sal’s friend, he was your lifelong defender. Sal, the 26-year-old who died from an accidental heroin overdose in exactly the circumstances the Good Samaritan law seeks to avoid. “It was almost …
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Gloucester Township Council becomes the fourth governing body to call on the state Legislature to override Gov. Christie's conditional veto of the '911 Good Samaritan' bill.
Gloucester Township Council on Wednesday passed a resolution calling on the New Jersey Legislature to override Gov. Chris Christie's Oct. 5 veto of the so-called "911 Good Samaritan" bill. The township's governing body became the fourth in the state to support Drug Policy Alliance's push for the override by doing so, joining fellow Camden County towns Audubon and Magnolia, as well as Red Bank in North Jersey. The 911 Good Samaritan Emergency Response Act would provide limited immunity to those who call 911 upon witnessing a drug overdose. Christie has indicated he was not comfortable signing into law a bill he feels could result in immunity for drug dealers. Blackwood resident Patty DiRenzo, whose son, Salvatore Marchese, died of a heroin …
Monday, October 29, 2012
Blackwood resident Patty DiRenzo continues to fight for passage of a law she feels would have saved her son's life.
Blackwood resident Patty DiRenzo was devastated when she learned on Oct. 5 that Gov. Chris Christie had vetoed the "911 Good Samaritan" bill. "I didn't anticipate that at all. I honestly thought he was going to sign it, and it wasn't going to be an issue," she said. "When Roseanne (Scotti, director of New Jersey's Drug Policy Alliance) called me at work that Friday ... I just started crying. I was just so upset." But DiRenzo and advocacy group Drug Policy Alliance have not given up their fight to see the "Good Samaritan" bill, which would offer protections to anyone who calls 911 in response to a drug overdose, passed here in New Jersey. DiRenzo on Thursday sent a letter to Gloucester Township Council members asking that they approve a …
Sunday, June 17, 2012
The Assembly version of the bill was approved in May.
A Blackwood woman is hoping you will help her push the so-called 911 Good Samaritan bill across the finish line in the New Jersey Senate. The bill (S-851), which would provide limited protection to anyone who calls 911 seeking medical help in the event of a drug overdose, is scheduled to be reviewed by the Senate Judiciary Committee this Thursday. Patty DiRenzo hopes you will join her in contacting the committee members to convince them to move the bill to the full Senate for a vote. She has been fighting for 20-plus months now with the Drug Policy Alliance to see the 911 Good Samaritan bill become law in New Jersey. "We just want to save lives," she said on Friday. "We're not asking for much here. You know, everybody deserves a chance to …
cynthia
1:09 pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013
Thank you to the DiRenzo family for working so hard to get this passed. I think it is important. I know some people will not agree with it - I have seen many heartless comments on other sites about this issue. I don't think most people realize just how prevalent drugs are in our society and how many "good" kids are involved with drugs, even if just on an experimental basis. I hope this will save … more ›