N.Y. PEN Law § 220.78 — New York Code / Act PEN / Part 3 / Title M / Article 220 / Section 220.78
Witness or victim of drug or alcohol overdose
Status: in_force

§ 220.78 Witness or victim of drug or alcohol overdose.\n  1. A person who, in good faith, seeks health care for someone who is\nexperiencing a drug or alcohol overdose or other life threatening\nmedical emergency shall not be charged or prosecuted for a controlled\nsubstance offense under this article or a cannabis offense under article\ntwo hundred twenty-two of this title, other than an offense involving\nsale for consideration or other benefit or gain, or charged or\nprosecuted for possession of alcohol by a person under age twenty-one\nyears under section sixty-five-c of the alcoholic beverage control law,\nor for possession of drug paraphernalia under article thirty-nine of the\ngeneral business law, with respect to any controlled substance,\ncannabis, alcohol or paraphernalia that was obtained as a result of such\nseeking or receiving of health care.\n  2. A person who is experiencing a drug or alcohol overdose or other\nlife threatening medical emergency and, in good faith, seeks health care\nfor himself or herself or is the subject of such a good faith request\nfor health care, shall not be charged or prosecuted for a controlled\nsubstance offense under this article or a cannabis offense under article\ntwo hundred twenty-two of this title, other than an offense involving\nsale for consideration or other benefit or gain, or charged or\nprosecuted for possession of alcohol by a person under age twenty-one\nyears under section sixty-five-c of the alcoholic beverage control law,\nor charged or prosecuted for possession of cannabis or concentrated\ncannabis by a person under the age of twenty-one under section one\nhundred thirty-two of the cannabis law, or for possession of drug\nparaphernalia under article thirty-nine of the general business law,\nwith respect to any substance, cannabis, alcohol or paraphernalia that\nwas obtained as a result of such seeking or receiving of health care.\n  3. Definitions. As used in this section the following terms shall have\nthe following meanings:\n  (a) "Drug or alcohol overdose" or "overdose" means an acute condition\nincluding, but not limited to, physical illness, coma, mania, hysteria\nor death, which is the result of consumption or use of a controlled\nsubstance or alcohol and relates to an adverse reaction to or the\nquantity of the controlled substance or alcohol or a substance with\nwhich the controlled substance or alcohol was combined; provided that a\npatient's condition shall be deemed to be a drug or alcohol overdose if\na prudent layperson, possessing an average knowledge of medicine and\nhealth, could reasonably believe that the condition is in fact a drug or\nalcohol overdose and (except as to death) requires health care.\n  (b) "Health care" means the professional services provided to a person\nexperiencing a drug or alcohol overdose by a health care professional\nlicensed, registered or certified under title eight of the education law\nor article thirty of the public health law who, acting within his or her\nlawful scope of practice, may provide diagnosis, treatment or emergency\nservices for a person experiencing a drug or alcohol overdose.\n  4. It shall be an affirmative defense to a criminal sale controlled\nsubstance offense under this article or a criminal sale of cannabis\noffense under article two hundred twenty-two of this title, not covered\nby subdivision one or two of this section, with respect to any\ncontrolled substance or cannabis which was obtained as a result of such\nseeking or receiving of health care, that:\n  (a) the defendant, in good faith, seeks health care for someone or for\nhim or herself who is experiencing a drug or alcohol overdose or other\nlife threatening medical emergency; and\n  (b) the defendant has no prior conviction for the commission or\nattempted commission of a class A-I, A-II or B felony under this\narticle.\n  5. Nothing in this section shall be construed to bar the admissibility\nof any evidence in connection with the investigation and prosecution of\na crime with regard to another defendant who does not independently\nqualify for the bar to prosecution or for the affirmative defense; nor\nwith regard to other crimes committed by a person who otherwise\nqualifies under this section; nor shall anything in this section be\nconstrued to bar any seizure pursuant to law, including but not limited\nto pursuant to section thirty-three hundred eighty-seven of the public\nhealth law.\n  6. The bar to prosecution described in subdivisions one and two of\nthis section shall not apply to the prosecution of a class A-I felony\nunder this article, and the affirmative defense described in subdivision\nfour of this section shall not apply to the prosecution of a class A-I\nor A-II felony under this article.\n