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Fla. Stat. § 893.21

Alcohol-related or drug-related overdoses; medical assistance; immunity from arrest, charge, prosecution, and penalization

Known as the Florida Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act

The act spans §§ 893–893 (40 sections).

Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case 153 So. 3d 192 - In Re STANDARD JURY INSTRUCTIONS IN CRIMINAL CASES—REPORT NO. 2013-05 (2014)

Most recently applied in 238 Md. App. 153 - Noble v. State (July 2018)

History.--s. 2, ch. 2012-36; s. 2, ch. 2019-81; s. 2, ch. 2024-68.

How often courts cite this section

2014201820
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A person acting in good faith who seeks medical assistance for an individual experiencing, or believed to be experiencing, an alcohol-related or a drug-related overdose may not be arrested, charged, prosecuted, or penalized for a violation of s. 893.132; s. 893.147(1); or s. 893.13(6), excluding paragraph (c), if the evidence for such offense was obtained as a result of the person’s seeking medical assistance.

(2) A person who experiences, or has a good faith belief that he or she is experiencing, an alcohol-related or a drug-related overdose and is in need of medical assistance may not be arrested, charged, prosecuted, or penalized for a violation of s. 893.132; s. 893.147(1); or s. 893.13(6), excluding paragraph (c), if the evidence for such offense was obtained as a result of the person’s seeking medical assistance.

(3) A person who experiences, or has a good faith belief that he or she is experiencing, an alcohol-related or a drug-related overdose and receives medical assistance, or a person acting in good faith who seeks medical assistance for an individual experiencing, or believed to be experiencing, an alcohol-related or a drug-related overdose, may not be penalized for a violation of a condition of pretrial release, probation, or parole if the evidence for such violation was obtained as a result of the person’s seeking medical assistance.

(4) Protection in this section from arrest, charge, prosecution, or penalization for an offense listed in this section may not be grounds for suppression of evidence in other criminal prosecutions.

Official source: Online Sunshine (Florida Legislature). Reproduced from public-domain Florida statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.