ENDING CRIMINALIZATION OF SUBSTANCE USE & SUD

911 Good Samaritan Law Expansion - PA 102-0004 (2021)

Included in the Illinois Health Care and Human Service Reform Act
Expanded “Good Samaritan” law to provide limited immunity from arrest (formerly only applied to prosecution), and prohibited finding a person in violation of parole, mandatory supervised release, probation, or conditional discharge, or seizure of property under State civil asset forfeiture laws, if evidence for the violation was acquired as a result of the person seeking or obtaining emergency medical assistance in the event of an overdose. Expanded the scope of the immunity to include more offenses, including:
- drug-induced homicide; and
- aggravated battery.
- possession of drug paraphernalia;
- any possession, possession with intent to deliver, or delivery charge involving quantities of substances below specified thresholds (previously, the law applied only to simple possession charges, and only those classified as Class 3 or 4 felonies AND involving quantities below the thresholds);
Increased, from 1 gram to 3 grams, the quantity threshold below which the law provides immunity from methamphetamine charges.

Source: ACLU of Illinois

Policing and criminal justice omnibus package
State funding for “deflection” co-responder programs allowing non-police responses (including by EMS and community-based behavioral health providers) to crisis and non-crisis situations involving mental health and substance use.
Abolishes cash bail and limits pretrial incarceration to certain qualifying offenses—effectively eliminating pretrial incarceration of people charged with drug offenses (effective January 1, 2023).
Narrows “three strikes” law to exclude convictions for drug offenses and other non-forcible offenses.

Source: ACLU of Illinois

Expanded the Compassionate Use of Medical Cannabis Pilot Program to make cannabis available as an opioid painkiller replacement under the Opioid Alternative Pilot Program.