---
type: "Bill"
title: "AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS - THE GOOD SAMARITAN OVERDOSE PREVENTION ACT OF 2016 (Allows distribution and utilization of narcotic testing products to assist persons in determining whether drugs contain toxic substances.)"
description: "AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS - THE GOOD SAMARITAN OVERDOSE PREVENTION ACT OF 2016 (Allows distribution and utilization of narcotic testing products to assist persons in determining whether drugs contain toxic substances.)"
jurisdiction: "us/states/ri"
legislature: "Rhode Island General Assembly"
session: "2018"
identifier: "SB 2896"
citation: "Rhode Island SB 2896 (2018)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["Civil Procedure", "Courts"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["DiPalma", "Goldin", "McCaffrey", "Miller"]
version_count: 1
action_count: 12
vote_count: 2
first_action: "2018-05-16"
last_action: "2018-07-02"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/df6a8268-317b-41ed-b31e-fb0793d6c04c"
source_url: "http://status.rilin.state.ri.us/"
source_hash: "7e73c23c4076fa505f59a5a1b2ac5f0a4c994413b075302ee6deec7ef42b52c3"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-ri"]
---

# Rhode Island SB 2896 (2018) — AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS - THE GOOD SAMARITAN OVERDOSE PREVENTION ACT OF 2016 (Allows distribution and utilization of narcotic testing products to assist persons in determining whether drugs contain toxic substances.)

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **2896** (committee substitute) — [source](http://webserver.rilin.state.ri.us/BillText/BillText18/SenateText18/S2896.pdf)

## Votes

- Passage — **35–0** (pass) · upper
- IN CONCURRENCE — **67–1** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- DiPalma — primary (person)
- Goldin — primary (person)
- McCaffrey — primary (person)
- Miller — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2018-05-16** 05/16/2018 Introduced, referred to Senate Judiciary `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2018-05-25** 05/25/2018 Scheduled for hearing and/or consideration (05/29/2018)
- **2018-05-29** 05/29/2018 Committee recommends passage `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-05-30** 05/30/2018 Placed on Senate Calendar (06/05/2018)
- **2018-06-05** 06/05/2018 Senate read and passed `passage`
- **2018-06-06** 06/06/2018 Referred to House Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2018-06-22** 06/22/2018 Scheduled for consideration (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Committee recommends passage in concurrence `committee-passage-favorable`
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 Placed on House Calendar (06/23/2018)
- **2018-06-23** 06/23/2018 House passed in concurrence `passage`
- **2018-07-02** 07/02/2018 Transmitted to Governor `executive-receipt`
- **2018-07-02** 07/02/2018 Signed by Governor `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/df6a8268-317b-41ed-b31e-fb0793d6c04c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Rhode Island legislature records).