CLEVELAND.COM | BY JACKIE BORCHARDT | 06.13.16
COLUMBUS, Ohio — A person who calls 911 to save a friend who is overdosing won’t be arrested or punished for minor drug offenses under a new Ohio law.
Ohio joined 37 states and the District of Columbia with so-called 911 Good Samaritan laws on Monday when Gov. John Kasich signed House Bill 110 into law. But Ohio’s law contains a few provisions critics say will actually discourage people from calling for help.
The law grants immunity to callers and to the person overdosing on heroin, opioids or other drugs from arrest, charging, prosecution, conviction and penalization for a minor drug possession offense. The law takes effect in mid-September.