Good Samaritan Overdose Laws

You are afraid that calling 911 for an overdose will get you arrested. If they will not wake or are not breathing, call, give naloxone if you have it, and stay.

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Key takeaway

If someone will not wake or is not breathing, call 911, give naloxone if you have it, and stay. Many states and the District of Columbia may protect the person who overdosed and the person who sought help from some drug possession charges. The protection is limited and differs by state. The legal question waits.

Last updated: Mon Oct 05 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

You are afraid that calling for help will get you arrested, so part of you wants to leave. If they will not wake or are not breathing, call 911, give naloxone if you have it, and stay. The legal question waits. A person who is not breathing cannot.

If the crisis is hopelessness or thoughts of suicide rather than slowed breathing, call or text 988.

The call comes before the statute

CDC says many states and the District of Columbia have overdose Good Samaritan laws that may protect both the person who overdosed and the person who sought help from drug possession charges. Immunity may mean not being charged, or it may mean a reduced sentence. "May" is the right size. A law can cover simple possession found because of the rescue and still say nothing useful about a warrant, a distribution charge, a weapon, or a call that was not made in good faith.

SAMHSA's overdose toolkit tells you to learn your own state's law, and it describes the protection as limited. Laws differ in which offenses are covered and in whether any protection starts before arrest or only later. After the person is safe, read the statute where the emergency happened, or ask a lawyer there. Signs of overdose and how to give naloxone belong next to the product you have. Follow that product and the dispatcher. Do not stop to look up a statute before you call.

Naloxone is available over the counter in all 50 states. You cannot give it to yourself if you are the one who stops breathing. Tell someone where it is. CDC says to keep it on hand for people at higher risk, including people with opioid use disorder, people prescribed a higher-dose opioid pain medicine, people who use opioids together with benzodiazepines, and people who use illegal opioids such as heroin or fentanyl. Read nalmefene if that is the reversal medicine you were given. Opioids as a group are outlined on the opioids page.

GAO separates the two nicknames people mix up. Good Samaritan laws, in that report, protect people who call for medical help. Naloxone access laws protect people who give the reversal drug. A state can have one, the other, or both, and the text can change after any federal survey. NCSL's May 2025 brief, citing the Network for Public Health Law, says all 50 states let people obtain naloxone, while the legal details differ. Immunity for giving naloxone is not a promise about drugs police find when they answer the call.

After the person is with clinicians

A rescue is not treatment. Once emergency clinicians have the person, ask about ongoing care. Read medicines for opioid use disorder before anyone stops methadone or buprenorphine. The days after an overdose are covered in the first steps after a relapse. If fentanyl is what they were using, read fentanyl treatment. If the opioid problem started with pain medicine, read prescription opioid addiction.

Search FindTreatment.gov. Call or text (800) 653-9376 only after the person is with emergency clinicians, if you want help finding ongoing care.

Additional Resources

Sources cited on this page:

Common Questions

If I call 911 for an overdose, will I be arrested?

Nobody can promise the outcome of one call. CDC says many states and the District of Columbia have laws that may protect the person who overdosed and the person who sought help from drug possession charges. Protection may mean not being charged, or it may mean a reduced sentence. Warrants, distribution, weapons, and a call that was not made in good faith can fall outside the statute. Call anyway.

Do these laws work the same in every state?

No. GAO-21-248 found that the laws differ in which drug offenses are exempt and in whether immunity applies before arrest or charge, or only later, before trial. In that report, 48 jurisdictions had both a Good Samaritan law and a naloxone access law. Kansas, Texas, and Wyoming had naloxone access but not a Good Samaritan overdose law then, and five territories had neither. Legislatures amend these statutes. Check the law where the emergency happened.

Is a naloxone access law the same as a Good Samaritan law?

No. GAO described naloxone access laws as protections for people who give the reversal medicine, and Good Samaritan laws as protections for people who call for medical help. NCSL's brief, updated May 1, 2025, says all 50 states let people obtain naloxone, while prescribing rules and legal protections differ. Immunity for giving naloxone is not immunity for drugs found when police answer a 911 call.

Did these laws change overdose deaths?

GAO reviewed 17 studies published from 2010 through May 2020. With limits, including how few studies there were, the pattern was lower opioid-overdose death rates after states enacted the laws. People who know the laws are more likely to call 911. CDC's page, reviewed May 8, 2024, says 81,806 of 107,941 overdose deaths in 2022 involved an opioid. In 24 states and DC, from January through June 2019, bystanders were present at more than one in three opioid overdoses.

Should I stay if I am afraid of the legal outcome?

Yes. Stay until help arrives. CDC's steps are to give naloxone if you have it, call 911, and remain with the person. SAMHSA describes the legal protections as limited. Fear of a charge is a reason to learn your state's law later, from the statute or a lawyer there. It is not a reason to leave someone who is not breathing.