{"id":88,"date":"2019-03-13T09:29:41","date_gmt":"2019-03-13T09:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/2019\/03\/13\/immunity-drug-possession\/"},"modified":"2026-09-05T08:19:22","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T08:19:22","slug":"immunity-drug-possession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/2019\/03\/13\/immunity-drug-possession\/","title":{"rendered":"Pro-life law grants limited immunity for drug possession in an overdose situation"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>Pro-life law grants limited immunity for drug possession in an overdose situation<\/h1>\n<p> <a href=\"\/blog\/category\/Uncategorized\">Uncategorized<\/a> <\/p>\n<p> Mar 13 <\/p>\n<p> Written By <a href=\"\/blog?author=65e0cd1eea4f3d35f6e4f140\"><\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Overdose-Large-750x380-2.webp\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The opioid epidemic is rampant in West Virginia.&nbsp; Regardless of socioeconomic status, age, gender, or race, we all know someone in our family or community who has been affected.&nbsp; West Virginia <a href=\"https:\/\/dhhr.wv.gov\/BBH\/DocumentSearch\/SEOW\/Meeting Docs\/SEOW 2020\/1.13.20 WV Fatal Drug Overdoses.pdf\">ranks<\/a> at the top in terms of opioid-related overdose deaths in the United States, the majority of which are attributable to synthetic opioids and heroin. <\/p>\n<h4>The Overdose Prevention and Clemency Act<\/h4>\n<p>In 2015, West Virginia enacted the <em>Alcohol and Drug Overdose Prevention and Clemency Act<\/em>.&nbsp; The Act provides that a \u201cperson who, in good faith and in a timely manner, seeks emergency medical assistance for a person who reasonably appears to be experiencing an overdose may not be held criminally responsible for\u201d certain crimes including: <\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<p>Purchasing alcohol with a fake ID;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Possessing alcohol while under the age of 21;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Possessing a controlled substance;<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Public intoxication; and<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li>\n<p>Drinking alcohol in a public place.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>W.Va. Code \u00a7 16-47-4(a). To be eligible for immunity, the person must remain with the person who needs medical assistance; identify him or herself if requested to do so by emergency medical personnel and law enforcement; and cooperate and provide relevant, requested information that is needed for the treatment of the person who needs medical assistance. W. Va. Code \u00a7 16-47-4(c).&nbsp; In certain circumstances, the immunity may apply to the person who overdosed.&nbsp; W.Va. Code \u00a7 16-47-5. <\/p>\n<h4>Why Grant Limited Immunity for drug possession?<\/h4>\n<p>The <em>Alcohol and Drug Overdose Prevention and Clemency Act<\/em> encourages citizens to intervene in drug and alcohol overdose situations and seek life-saving emergency medical assistance for others without fear of being arrested for certain crimes.&nbsp; W.Va. Code \u00a7 16-47-2(b).&nbsp; An alternative policy runs the grave risk that citizens will not seek medical attention for someone who overdosed for fear of being prosecuted for their own misdeeds.&nbsp; Life is finite.&nbsp; Our government should take measures to encourage citizens to help others and the Act does precisely that. Barney Law PLLC represents persons charged with <a href=\"\/index.php\/2019\/04\/20\/simple-possession-of-marijuana-in-west-virginia\/\">illegal drug possession<\/a> and <a href=\"\/criminal-defense\">other criminal charges<\/a>.&nbsp; Feel free to call us at 304-932-8775 to discuss the specifics of your unique situation.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"\/blog\/tag\/Charleston\">Charleston<\/a> <a href=\"\/blog\/tag\/Criminal+Defense+attorney\">Criminal Defense attorney<\/a> <a href=\"\/blog\/tag\/Drug+Possession\">Drug Possession<\/a> <a href=\"\/blog\/tag\/Hurricane\">Hurricane<\/a> <a href=\"\/blog\/tag\/Teays+Valley\">Teays Valley<\/a> <\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"\/blog?author=65e0cd1eea4f3d35f6e4f140\"><\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"\/index.php\/2019\/03\/13\/wrongful-death-lawyer-west-virginia\/\"><\/p>\n<p> Previous<br \/>\n Previous <\/p>\n<h2>Wrongful Death Cases In West Virginia<\/h2>\n<p> <\/a><\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"\/index.php\/2019\/02\/04\/just-say-no-to-the-other-partys-insurance-adjuster-after-a-car-wreck\/\"><\/p>\n<p> Next<br \/>\n Next <\/p>\n<h2>Just Say No To The Other Party\u2019s Insurance Adjuster After A Car Wreck<\/h2>\n<p> <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does West Virginia offer immunity for drug possession during an overdose? Learn when the Good Samaritan law applies, who qualifies, and what charges are still possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":154,"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88\/revisions\/154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.playground.setmy.site\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}