New law allows 911 callers to avoid drug charges

YOUNGSTOWN

City 911 call takers and supervisors will begin training later this month on a new state law that allows someone to report a drug overdose without facing criminal charges, if the offense is classified as a minor drug offense.

Police Capt. Kevin Mercer, who heads up training for the department, said people will not be charged if the amount of drugs on hand amounts to a misdemeanor or a fifth-degree felony, the lowest degree of felony there is.

The degree of felony in drug possession offenses is determined by the weight of drugs found. The higher the weight, the higher the felony up to a first-degree felony. A fifth-degree felony or misdemeanor is when a small amount of drugs is found.

Mercer said under the new law, someone has to tell a call taker when calling for help that the call is for an overdose and there are drugs present, or the call taker will tell the caller that they may be eligible for immunity if they are calling about a drug offense.

The law states that the call taker must make a “reasonable effort” to inform callers that they may be eligible for immunity.

The call taker will then tell the dispatcher, who will tell officers who are responding that the person who called may be eligible for immunity, Mercer said.

For more on the new law, read Saturday's Vindicastor or Vindy.com.