Similar to a state law that went into effect Sunday in New York, the proposal for New Jersey would offer limited legal protection to those who summon help for overdose victims, though they too may have been using illegal drugs.
No legislator has yet signed on to sponsor the measure, but some in law enforcement take a positive view.
"In general, it's something we would support," says Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. "It would be a rare day we would file charges in those cases."
More than 750 Garden State residents, including nearly 100 in Camden County, died of overdoses in 2009, and most were not alone when they took the drugs, according to the alliance.
DiRenzo believes Sal was not alone either, and sees the 911 measure as a lifesaver.
"When people hear 'drug addict,' they have an image," she says. "Addiction is a disease. My son had a disease. I really believe that."
An administrative assistant at a law firm, DiRenzo, 52, was born and raised in Camden. Blake Marchese, 30, teaches elementary school in Audubon, where she and Sal grew up.
The quiet and compassionate young man they knew quickly turned into a scamming drug addict after a friend offered him heroin about six years ago.
The guy who would "give you the shirt off his back," in Blake Marchese's words, ended up stealing from his mother.
"I slept with my wallet," says DiRenzo, who took her only son to detox, fought to get him into rehab, and took him to 12-step meetings. She even waited outside in the car while he went to a downtown Camden methadone clinic.
"What do you do when you can't help your child?" DiRenzo asks.
In 2007, Sal began taking Suboxone, a prescription medication that helps some people kick heroin.
