Drug addiction is a serious problem in Michigan and nationwide. Many times, drug addicts want to quit using but their addiction prevents them from staying clean.
When an addiction leads to an overdose, many people are afraid to seek medical treatment due to fear of being arrested for a drug charge. In some cases, this results in an overdose death which could have been prevented.
To attempt to combat this problem, Michigan enacted a Good Samaritan law. The law applies to anyone who requests help for a drug overdose or anyone who helps to obtain medical assistance for someone else they believe is suffering from an overdose.
Your protections under the Good Samaritan law
The law states that the drug user cannot be criminally charged if they only have an amount sufficient for personal use. The evidence used for the charge can also not be the drugs obtained from the individual who was seeking treatment for an overdose.
But what happens if you believe you are overdosing, seek medical help and it turns out you were not? The law is on your side. Even if it turns out you were not overdosing, you are protected from prosecution if an average person would reasonably believe what you were experiencing was a drug overdose that required medical treatment.
When the Good Samarian law does not apply
If you are facing other criminal charges at the time, any drugs found on you could potentially be used as evidence in those other charges.
Additionally, if you are committing any other crimes during the overdose, you can still be charged and prosecuted for those crimes. For example, if you break into someone’s home and overdose there, you could potentially still be charged with breaking and entering.
Finally, the Good Samaritan law does not protect against being charged with more serious crimes, such as drug trafficking.
Overdose situations can be hectic and not everyone knows about or understands the good Samaritan law. If you were arrested and believe you should have been protected under this law, your rights may have been violated.