Bill Text: NJ A5530 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires substance use disorder treatment centers to provide opioid antidote to certain patients upon discharge.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-09-17 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health Committee [A5530 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5530-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman HEATHER SIMMONS
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
SYNOPSIS
Requires substance use disorder treatment centers to provide opioid antidote to certain patients upon discharge.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning substance use disorder treatment, and supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. As used in this section:
"Opioid antidote" means the same as that term is defined by section 3 of P.L.2013, c.46 (C.24:6J-3).
b. A substance use disorder treatment center shall, upon the discharge of a patient who has a history of using opioids, or has been diagnosed with opioid use disorder, or has experienced an opioid-related drug overdose, dispense at least two doses of an opioid antidote to the patient or the patient's legal guardian. Such dispensing, together with appropriate counseling and education of the patient or the patient's legal guardian concerning the use of opioid antidotes, shall be provided as part of the patient's discharge plan, and shall be appropriately documented in the patient's file. Such dispensing and counseling may be performed by any staff member of the substance use disorder treatment center who is licensed to dispense opioid antidotes.
c. (1) The provisions of section 4 of P.L.2013, c.46 (C.24:6J-4) shall apply to substance use disorder treatment centers and the staff members of substance use disorder treatment centers acting in accordance with the provisions of this section and the regulations promulgated thereunder by the Commissioner of Health.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit or impair the use of opioid antidotes by or at a substance use disorder treatment center for any other clinically appropriate purpose.
d. The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services, shall, in accordance with the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), adopt rules and regulations as necessary to implement the provisions of this section.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following enactment, except that the Commissioner of Health may take such anticipatory action as may be necessary for the timely implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires substance use disorder treatment centers to provide certain vulnerable patients with opioid antidotes, such as naloxone, upon discharge.
Under the bill, as part of discharge planning, a patient identified as having a history of using opioids, or who has been diagnosed with opioid use disorder, or who has experienced an opioid-related drug overdose, will be provided with at least two doses of an opioid antidote together with instructions for use.
Under existing law, in the interest of public health and overdose prevention, individuals and health care practitioners are given broad legal protection for providing opioid antidotes in situations where a person is, or is at risk of, experiencing an opioid overdose. The bill also extends these same protections to substance use disorder treatment centers for providing opioid antidotes at discharge.
