Holladay Democratic Rep. Carol Moss's HB391 would allow prosecutors to charge those who stand by while their friends overdose and not seek help. The legislation would make inaction a class B misdemeanor when a person "reasonably appears to be at risk of death or serious bodily injury due to ingestion of a controlled substances, gas or inhalant."

Mike Sorich, whose 18-year-old daughter Amelia died of an overdose while some of her friends looked on, said current law needs to be changed. Amelia's friends twice injected her with "speedball," a mixture of cocaine and heroin, at a party last June. When she died, they dumped her body in the Bountiful foothills.

"One of the two kids who let my daughter die was not on drugs," Sorich said. "There are no consequences. It's just not right that people let people die."

One of Moss' former students, 27-year-old Stephen Sill, died of an overdose last November.

His younger sister Rosemary said education is not enough.

"It comes down to accountability," she said.

But the Utah prosecutor's association does not support the legislation. So, members of the House Judiciary Committee decided to study the issue after the session ends.

Rep. Eric Hutchings, R-Kearns, said Utah law enforcers need to punish those who stand idly by or try to cover up overdoses.

"Law enforcement needs to start dealing with this problem," Hutchings said.