Sacramento, California – A new California bill aims to ensure college students are not academically punished when calling for emergency help during an overdose , extending current Good Samaritan protections to university campuses.
Assembly Bill 602, introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco), would prohibit academic institutions—including University of California (UC), California State University (CSU), and community college campuses—from disciplining students who report drug overdoses in emergencies. The legislation does not apply to private colleges.
Haney said the measure responds to a worsening opioid crisis in the state. Nearly 7,000 Californians died from opioid-related overdoses in 2022—double the number from five years earlier, he noted…