Notable look at public health impacts of drug-induced homicide laws in rural North Carolina

I just came across this notable new article in the International Journal of Drug Policy by multiple authored titled “Drug induced homicide laws may worsen opioid related harms: An example from rural North Carolina.” Here is its abstract:

Drug-induced homicide (DIH) laws typically allow for the prosecution of drug distribution resulting in an overdose fatality as equivalent to homicide or manslaughter. Despite vigorous debate about the appropriateness of DIH laws as a response to overdose, the public health impacts of this increasingly common prosecutorial strategy remain unknown. In this policy analysis, we take up the question of how DIH prosecutions impact local persons and communities through the lens of a high-profile DIH conviction that took place in Haywood County, a rural county located in the Appalachian region of western North Carolina. Describing insights gained from two unrelated but overlapping studies carried out in Haywood County, we identify several plausible mechanisms through which DIH laws may negatively impact public health. Among these are disruptions to the local drug market and deterrence from calling 911 when witnessing an overdose. With the number of DIH prosecutions growing rapidly, more research on the public health impacts of DIH laws is urgently needed. 

A few of many prior related posts:

• “Heroin, Murder, and the New Front in the War on Drugs” 
• Noticing how federal drug laws, rather than state homicide laws, are used to severely punish drug distribution resulting in death 
• “America’s Favorite Antidote: Drug-Induced Homicide in the Age of the Overdose Crisis” 
• Another look at trend to prosecute some opioid overdose deaths as homicides
• “Drug-Induced Homicide Defense Toolkit” 
• “An Overdose Death Is Not Murder: Why Drug-Induced Homicide Laws Are Counterproductive and Inhumane”