Did you know that if you get emergency help for someone who appears to be suffering a drug overdose, the law generally protects you from being prosecuted for your own drug use and possession if police discover it only because of your call for help?
Even though many states, including North Carolina, have had these limited immunity or “Good Samaritan” laws on the books for some time now, too many people still panic and leave the scene of an overdose rather than seeking what could be life-saving medical aid. Even if they aren’t using drugs themselves, some won’t call 911 because they fear that the overdose victim will be arrested.
The purpose of these Good Samaritan laws is to reduce the number of preventable overdose fatalities. No two states’ laws are exactly the same. Some provide more protection from drug-related charges than others.
What does North Carolina’s law say?
Under North Carolina law, if someone acting “in good faith” gets emergency help for a person who appears to be suffering an overdose, they have immunity from facing charges for drug offenses involving a small amount of drugs or paraphernalia that police may find when they arrive. They also have immunity if the drugs and/or paraphernalia found are a violation of their conditions of “pretrial release, probation, parole, or post‑release.”
Unlike in some states, North Carolina law specifies that the overdose victim receives the same immunity. That means a person can call for help without worrying that they’re getting someone arrested – or worry about calling 911 for their own overdose.
What does “in good faith” mean? It means that a person must seek help because someone needs it – and not to get out of a potential or imminent arrest. For example, the law doesn’t apply if someone tells authorities about an overdose “during the course of the execution of an arrest warrant, search warrant, or other lawful search.”
This law offers important protections. However, it can’t guarantee that a person may not be wrongly arrested or even charged for an offense for which they should have immunity. These situations can be extremely chaotic. That’s why it may be necessary to get legal guidance to protect your rights and make your case if you’ve been wrongly arrested.