Watching someone overdose is terrifying enough on its own. For many people, that fear gets tangled up with another one: what happens if I call 911 and the police find drugs when they arrive? That hesitation has cost lives, and Ohio lawmakers built a law specifically to remove it.
Ohio’s 911 Good Samaritan Law gives certain people limited legal protection from drug possession charges when they seek help for an overdose. It is not blanket immunity, and it comes with real conditions that matter, but understanding how it works can be the difference between hesitating and calling for help in time.
This guide explains exactly what the law covers, who qualifies, what it does not protect against, and the steps you need to take afterward to actually keep that protection.
What Does Ohio’s Good Samaritan Law Actually Cover?
Ohio’s Good Samaritan protection is written into Ohio Revised Code § 2925.11(B)(2), the same statute that governs drug possession in Ohio. Passed in 2016 in response to the state’s overdose crisis, it protects someone from arrest, charges, prosecution, or conviction for a minor drug possession offense and the related paraphernalia found alongside it, when that evidence was only discovered because someone sought medical help for an overdose.
A “minor drug possession offense” specifically means a possession charge graded as a misdemeanor or a fifth-degree felony. This typically covers the small, personal-use amounts of a controlled substance that first responders commonly find at the scene of an overdose.
Seeking medical assistance is defined broadly under the law and includes:
- Calling 911
- Contacting an on-duty peace officer in person or by phone
- Transporting the person who overdosed to a health care facility
Who Qualifies for Immunity?
The law protects more than just the person who dialed the phone. Immunity can extend to:
- The person who called 911 or sought help for someone else experiencing an overdose
- The person who overdosed, if they sought help for themselves
- The person experiencing the overdose, if someone else sought help on their behalf
To qualify as a “qualified individual” under the statute, you generally cannot be on community control (probation) or post-release control (parole) at the time. The law is built around encouraging a specific, good-faith act: reaching out for emergency help when someone’s life may be at risk.
Why This Law Exists: The Real Stakes Behind It
This is not a hypothetical concern. Fentanyl was involved in 69% of unintentional drug overdose deaths in Ohio in 2024, according to the Ohio Department of Health, and the state has seen years of overdose crisis driving policy decisions like this one.
Despite the law’s existence, hesitation has not disappeared. A 2026 study of people who use drugs in rural Ohio found that most participants preferred not to seek first responder support during an overdose when the victim was able to be revived, and first responder support was not sought in most of the overdoses participants experienced or witnessed. In other words, even with legal protection on the books, fear of police involvement still keeps people from calling for help.
Understanding exactly what protection you have, and exactly what its limits are, is part of what makes that call easier to make when it matters most.
What the Law Does Not Cover
This is where most of the confusion, and most of the risk, actually lives. Ohio’s Good Samaritan Law is narrow by design, and it will not protect you from everything discovered during an overdose response.
It does not cover higher-level drug offenses. Trafficking, distribution, and manufacturing charges fall completely outside this protection. The law is built around personal possession, not the drugs surrounding a sale.
It does not erase outstanding warrants or supervision violations. If you have an active warrant, or you are already on probation or parole, police can still act on that, regardless of why they were called to the scene.
It only works twice. Ohio law limits this immunity to two uses per person over a lifetime. After that, the same conduct can be prosecuted even if you called for help.
It requires you to stay and cooperate. Leaving the scene before help arrives, or refusing to cooperate with responding officers and medical personnel, can undermine the protection entirely.
Naloxone Doesn’t Mean You’re in the Clear
Many people believe that once naloxone (commonly known as Narcan) has reversed an overdose, the emergency is over and there is no longer a reason to call for help. That assumption can be dangerous. Naloxone’s effects can wear off before the drugs involved have fully left someone’s system, and a person can slip back into an overdose within roughly 90 minutes of receiving it.
This is exactly why the Good Samaritan Law’s protection matters even after naloxone has already been administered. Calling 911 afterward to make sure the person is monitored and stabilized is still covered by the same immunity, as long as the other requirements of the law are met.
Getting Naloxone Before You Need It
Under Ohio Revised Code § 3715.502, Ohio pharmacists can dispense naloxone to anyone, no prescription required, through a physician-approved standing order. That means you do not need to know someone with a substance use disorder personally to keep naloxone on hand, and you do not need a doctor’s visit to get it.
The state’s Project DAWN program (Deaths Avoided With Naloxone) distributes free naloxone kits and training at more than 200 registered locations across Ohio, including health departments, hospitals, and community organizations. If you administer naloxone in good faith to help someone experiencing an overdose, liability protections under ORC § 3715.504 apply separately from the Good Samaritan Law discussed above.
Having naloxone available, and knowing that both administering it and calling 911 afterward carry legal protection, removes two of the biggest barriers people cite for not acting during an overdose.
The Step You Cannot Skip: Screening and Referral
Calling 911 is the first requirement, but it is not the last one. To actually secure immunity under this law, you must obtain a drug screening and a referral for treatment from a community addiction services provider within 30 days of the incident, and you may be required to submit documentation of that screening and referral if a prosecutor asks for it.
This step is easy to overlook in the aftermath of a frightening emergency, but skipping it can cost you the very protection the 911 call was supposed to secure. If you or someone you helped has recently gone through this, treat the 30-day window as seriously as the phone call itself.
A Common Scenario: How This Plays Out in Practice
Consider a typical situation. A parent finds their adult child unresponsive and calls 911. Police and EMS arrive, and officers discover a small amount of a controlled substance in the room. Under the Good Samaritan Law, that possession charge may be covered by immunity, since the evidence was only found because help was sought for an overdose.
But if that same search also turns up evidence of distribution, a larger quantity consistent with drug trafficking rather than personal use, or the police discover an outstanding warrant unrelated to the overdose, the Good Samaritan Law will not shield those separate issues. Each piece of evidence found during the response gets evaluated against the statute’s specific limits, not treated as one blanket immunity for everything discovered that day.
This is exactly why cases involving this law often need a careful, fact-by-fact review rather than an assumption that “the overdose law covers it.” If illegal search and seizure issues are also present, there may be additional defenses beyond the statute itself.
Why This Is a Legal Decision, Not Just a Medical One
In the moment, calling for help is a medical decision. But what happens afterward – whether the screening gets completed, whether documentation gets submitted, whether the immunity actually holds up if prosecutors question it- is a legal one.
People sometimes assume that because they called 911 in good faith, they are automatically protected. The statute does not work that way. Immunity under this law has to be established and defended, and the steps you take, or fail to take, in the following weeks matter just as much as the call itself.
The Short Version
- Ohio’s 911 Good Samaritan Law (ORC § 2925.11(B)(2)) protects against arrest and prosecution for minor drug possession and related paraphernalia when discovered during a good-faith overdose response.
- It applies to the 911 caller, the person who overdosed, and anyone who sought help on another’s behalf.
- You generally cannot be on probation or parole to qualify.
- Fentanyl remains involved in the majority of Ohio’s overdose deaths, and studies show many people still hesitate to call 911 despite this law.
- Naloxone can wear off within about 90 minutes, so calling 911 afterward is still protected and still important.
- Ohio pharmacies can dispense naloxone without a prescription, and Project DAWN offers free kits and training statewide.
- It does not cover trafficking, outstanding warrants, or supervision violations, and it can only be used twice in a lifetime.
- Evidence found during an overdose response is evaluated separately, so other charges discovered at the same time may not be covered.
- You must obtain a drug screening and treatment referral within 30 days to actually secure the immunity.
How The Meade Law Group Can Help
If you or a loved one was charged with a drug offense after calling for help during an overdose, do not assume the case is automatically over, and do not assume it is automatically hopeless either. Whether the issue is proving you qualify under the statute, showing that the screening and referral requirement was met, or challenging charges that fall outside the law’s protection, our attorneys know how to build that case.
We handle Ohio drug charges with the same thorough, strategic approach we bring to every criminal defense matter.
Contact The Meade Law Group to schedule a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does calling 911 during an overdose guarantee I won’t be charged? | No. The law provides conditional immunity for minor drug possession offenses, not blanket protection. You must meet all of the statute’s requirements, including completing a drug screening and treatment referral within 30 days. |
| Does the law protect the person who overdosed, or only the caller? | Both. Immunity can apply to the person who called for help, the person who sought help for themselves, and the person who overdosed when someone else called on their behalf. |
| Can I use this protection more than once? | No. Ohio law limits this immunity to two uses per person over a lifetime. |
| Does this law cover drug trafficking charges? | No. It only applies to minor drug possession offenses, generally a misdemeanor or fifth-degree felony. Trafficking, distribution, and manufacturing charges are not covered. |
| What if I have an outstanding warrant? | The Good Samaritan Law does not erase outstanding warrants or protect you from action on a probation or parole violation, even if the warrant is discovered during the overdose response. |
| If I already gave someone naloxone, do I still need to call 911? | Yes. Naloxone can wear off within about 90 minutes, and the person can slip back into an overdose. Calling 911 afterward to ensure they are monitored is still covered by the same legal protection. |
| Can I get naloxone without a prescription in Ohio? | Yes. Ohio pharmacists can dispense naloxone to anyone without a prescription under a physician-approved standing order, and Project DAWN provides free naloxone kits and training at locations across the state. |
| What happens if I forget to get the required screening and referral? | Missing the 30-day screening and referral requirement can jeopardize your immunity entirely, even if you otherwise qualify. If this has happened, speak with an attorney as soon as possible. |
