An Act To Deter the Dealing of Dangerous Drugs
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 0042
Committee: Criminal Justice and Public Safety
Sponsors: CYRWAY, NADEAU, DAVIS, DIAMOND, DOW, JACKSON, VOLK, BRADSTREET, TUELL, WOOD
Amends: 17-A MRSA §203

Legislative Document
No. 42
S.P. 22
In Senate, January 10, 2017
An Act To Deter the Dealing of Dangerous Drugs
Reference to the Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety suggested and ordered 
printed.
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator CYRWAY of Kennebec.
Cosponsored by Representative NADEAU of Winslow and
Senators: DAVIS of Piscataquis, DIAMOND of Cumberland, DOW of Lincoln, JACKSON of 
Aroostook, VOLK of Cumberland, Representatives: BRADSTREET of Vassalboro, TUELL of 
East Machias, WOOD of Greene.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  17-A MRSA §203, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2001, c. 383, §9 and 
affected by §156, is further amended to read: 
1.  A person is guilty of manslaughter if that person: 
A.  Recklessly, or with criminal negligence, causes the death of another human being.  
Violation of this paragraph is a Class A crime; 
B.  Intentionally or knowingly causes the death of another human being under 
circumstances that do not constitute murder because the person causes the death 
while under the influence of extreme anger or extreme fear brought about by 
adequate provocation.  Adequate provocation has the same meaning as in section 
201, subsection 4.  The fact that the person causes the death while under the influence 
of extreme anger or extreme fear brought about by adequate provocation constitutes a 
mitigating circumstance reducing murder to manslaughter and need not be proved in 
any prosecution initiated under this subsection.  Violation of this paragraph is a Class 
A crime; or 
C.  Has direct and personal management or control of any employment, place of 
employment or other employee, and intentionally or knowingly violates any 
occupational safety or health standard of this State or the Federal Government, and 
that violation in fact causes the death of an employee and that death is a reasonably 
foreseeable consequence of the violation.  This paragraph does not apply to: 
(1)  Any person who performs a public function either on a volunteer basis or for 
minimal compensation for services rendered; or 
(2)  Any public employee responding to or acting at a life-threatening situation 
who is forced to make and does make a judgment reasonably calculated to save 
the life of a human being.  
Violation of this paragraph is a Class C crime.; or 
D.  Trafficks in a drug with or furnishes a drug to another person in violation of 
chapter 45 and the other person dies as a result of injecting, inhaling or ingesting the 
drug. It is not a defense to a prosecution under this paragraph that the decedent 
contributed to the decedent's death by the decedent's purposeful, knowing, reckless or 
negligent injection, inhalation or ingestion of the drug or by the decedent's consenting 
to the administration of the drug by another. Violation of this paragraph is a Class A 
crime. 
SUMMARY 
This bill makes the illegal trafficking in a drug with or furnishing of a drug to a 
person when the injection, inhalation or ingestion of the drug by that person causes death 
a Class A crime of manslaughter.