Florida Senate - 2011                                    SB 1146
       
       
       
       By Senator Sachs
       
       
       
       
       30-01379-11                                           20111146__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to drug-related overdoses; providing a
    3         short title; creating s. 893.21, F.S.; providing that
    4         a person acting in good faith who seeks medical
    5         assistance for an individual experiencing a drug
    6         related overdose may not be charged, prosecuted, or
    7         penalized for specified offenses in certain
    8         circumstances; providing that a person who experiences
    9         a drug-related overdose and needs medical assistance
   10         may not be charged, prosecuted, or penalized for
   11         specified offenses in certain circumstances; providing
   12         that the protections from prosecution for specified
   13         offenses are not grounds for suppression of evidence
   14         in other prosecutions; amending s. 921.0026, F.S.;
   15         amending mitigating circumstances under which a
   16         departure from the lowest permissible criminal
   17         sentence is reasonably justified to include
   18         circumstances in which a defendant was making a good
   19         faith effort to obtain or provide medical assistance
   20         for an individual experiencing a drug-related
   21         overdose; providing an effective date.
   22  
   23         WHEREAS, some research suggests that in a majority of cases
   24  of fatal drug overdose another person was aware of or present
   25  during the decedent’s fatal drug use and that in one third of
   26  the cases someone recognized the decedent’s distress, and
   27         WHEREAS, many people cite fear of police involvement or
   28  fear of arrest as their primary reason for not seeking immediate
   29  help for a person thought to be experiencing a drug overdose,
   30  and
   31         WHEREAS, it is in the public interest to encourage a person
   32  who is aware of or present during another individual’s drug
   33  overdose to seek medical assistance for that individual, NOW,
   34  THEREFORE,
   35  
   36  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   37  
   38         Section 1. This act may be cited as the “911 Good Samaritan
   39  Act.”
   40         Section 2. Section 893.21, Florida Statutes, is created to
   41  read:
   42         893.21 Drug-related overdoses; medical assistance; immunity
   43  from prosecution.—
   44         (1) A person acting in good faith who seeks medical
   45  assistance for an individual experiencing a drug-related
   46  overdose may not be charged, prosecuted, or penalized pursuant
   47  to this chapter for possession of a controlled substance if the
   48  evidence for possession of a controlled substance was obtained
   49  as a result of the person’s seeking medical assistance.
   50         (2) A person who experiences a drug-related overdose and is
   51  in need of medical assistance may not be charged, prosecuted, or
   52  penalized pursuant to this chapter for possession of a
   53  controlled substance if the evidence for possession of a
   54  controlled substance was obtained as a result of the overdose
   55  and the need for medical assistance.
   56         (3) Protection in this section from prosecution for
   57  possession offenses under this chapter may not be grounds for
   58  suppression of evidence in other criminal prosecutions.
   59         Section 3. Paragraph (n) is added to subsection (2) of
   60  section 921.0026, Florida Statutes, to read:
   61         921.0026 Mitigating circumstances.—This section applies to
   62  any felony offense, except any capital felony, committed on or
   63  after October 1, 1998.
   64         (2) Mitigating circumstances under which a departure from
   65  the lowest permissible sentence is reasonably justified include,
   66  but are not limited to:
   67         (n) The defendant was making a good faith effort to obtain
   68  or provide medical assistance for an individual experiencing a
   69  drug-related overdose.
   70         Section 4. This act shall take effect July 1, 2011.