Bill > S4966

Introduced Session

Under this bill, community hubs and schools would be able to acquire opioid antidotes for distribution and administration to any recipient believed to be experiencing an opioid overdose. This bill amends the Overdose Prevention Act to add community hub and school to those entities that can access, acquire, and maintain a supply of opioid antidotes on the premises for the benefit of a person reasonably believed to be experiencing an overdose. Under this bill, a "community hub" means a place of social connection and congregation, including but not limited to, a restaurant, bar, retail store, shopping mall, barber shop, beauty parlor, theater, sporting or event center, inn, hotel, and motel. And, "school" means any public or non-public elementary or secondary school. Additionally, this bill establishes a program within the Department of Health to prevent opioid overdose. The Department of Health would be required to submit a yearly report to the Governor and the Legislature on the following information on a county basis:· the number of opioid overdoses and opioid overdose deaths, including a breakdown by age, gender, ethnicity, and geographic location; · data on emergency room utilization for the treatment of an opioid overdose; · data on the utilization of pre-hospital services for the treatment of an opioid overdose; · data on the dispensation and administration of opioid antidotes; and · any other information necessary to ascertain the success of the program, areas of the State experiencing particularly high rates of opioid overdose, processes to determine if the services, resources, and responses to an opioid overdose are successful and have a positive impact on reducing the opioid overdose rate, and ways to further reduce the rates of opioid overdose. This bill also requires prescribers and pharmacists who prescribe and dispense opioid antidotes to provide additional information, such as the number for the toll-free hotline REACHNJ; instructions on how to access the Department of Human Services' Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services website; information on fentanyl testing strips and its uses; and any other information deemed relevant by the Commissioners of Health and of Human Services, to the recipient of the antidote. With this bill, a pharmacy with 20 or more locations in the State would be required to either: maintain a non-patient specific prescription with an authorized health care professional to dispense an opioid antidote to a recipient upon request; or, register with the Department as an opioid overdose prevention program. Additionally, this bill strengthens the liability protections for prescribers and pharmacists who prescribe or dispense an opioid antidote pursuant to the provisions of this bill. Lastly, this bill adds a definition of "pharmacist," to mean a pharmacist licensed pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2003, c.280 (C.45:14-40 et seq.).

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Vin Gopal (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 12/08/2025)

Official Document