Virginia recently passed a new law that granted immunity to people who called the police about a possible overdose. The new law defines overdose as “life-threatening condition” caused by alcohol or drug use or a combination of both. Before this new law, it was common for police to arrest those who called about the overdose with drug possession. With the possibility of being arrested, those who were in possession of drugs did not have an incentive to call 911 for the overdosing person. With this new law, Virginia state legislators were hoping to incentivize people to call 911 for an overdosing person and lower the amount of deaths related to overdose.
A judge has ruled against a defendant in the first challenge to a drug prosecution under this new immunity law. The case arose from a 25-year-old woman in Front Royal, Virginia suffering from delusions, paranoia, and suicidal adulations. The woman called the police saying that saw a mutilated body of a man and that she wanted to shoot herself. When the police responded to the woman’s call, she ran into the road before being stopped by the police. After being hospitalized and put under a Temporary Detention Order. She was charged with possession of meth. The defendant’s attorney sought to use the broad definition of “overdosing” in the statute, but a judge did not find it convincing.
It appears as if the standard created by this judge is that the “life-threatening condition” language is only meant to acts that are traditionally directly related to an overdose on drugs. Examples of these would be unconsciousness or vomiting. The judge likely believes the statute should be interpreted as the emergency care of the individual would not occur but for the use of drugs. Additionally, the judge likely believed the defendant’s drug use did not necessarily contribute to her need for emergency care. Furthermore, the purpose of the new statute is to incentivize other people to call 911 for those who are overdosing. Here though, it appears as if the woman was not incentivized to call the police because of this statute, but was suffering from a mental breakdown.
