Walk It Through: The Call
An overdose, an empty pipe, a lab report, a trafficking charge, and a smell that may no longer be enough.
A friend stops responding on the couch. There is a bag on the table.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
The remaining conditions and exclusions on the overdose immunity, the current degrees for paraphernalia after the marijuana overhaul, the full trafficking tables for every schedule and the schedules themselves, and the odor question once the Ohio Supreme Court decides it are not reproduced here. The quick reference this draws on describes the general scheme, and an individual offense statute can override it.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
14 words · tap one for its definition
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
Show all 14 words
- Appointed counselCounsel provided at public expense to a defendant who cannot afford one, required in any case where imprisonment is actually imposed.
- Community controlCourt supervision imposed instead of a prison term, with conditions set by the court. Ohio replaced the word probation with this term for felony sentencing.
- DegreeThe classification every Ohio offense carries, from minor misdemeanor up to felony of the first degree. The degree sets the available range before anyone looks at the facts.
- Minor drug possession offenseA violation of the possession section that is a misdemeanor or a fifth degree felony. The phrase is the boundary of the overdose immunity, which reaches this and nothing heavier.
- Post release controlSupervision by the adult parole authority after a prison term, required for some degrees and discretionary for others. Violations can carry additional prison time.
- Qualified immunityA defense protecting an official sued individually unless the right they violated was clearly established at the time, meaning existing precedent had put the question beyond debate.
- Qualified individualThe person the overdose immunity protects. It covers three people: somebody acting in good faith who seeks help for another person overdosing, somebody who overdoses and seeks help for themselves, and somebody who is the subject of another person's call.
- Bulk amountA quantity defined per substance in the definitions section, which the possession and trafficking tables then use as their unit. Multiples of it set the degree.
- Unit doseA single measured quantity as prepared for use. For some substances the tables run on doses as an alternative to weight, and whichever tier is reached first applies.
- Major drug offenderA specification attaching at the highest quantity tier of a drug offense. Where it applies, the court is required to impose the maximum term for the degree.
- Minor misdemeanorThe bottom rung of the Ohio code. No jail term at all, a fine capped at one hundred and fifty dollars, and a section that says an officer shall issue a citation rather than arrest unless one of four exceptions applies.
- ConsentVoluntary agreement to a search, judged on the totality of the circumstances. Valid consent removes the need for a warrant and for probable cause.
- Probable causeFacts that would lead a reasonable person to believe a crime has been committed and that this person committed it. It is the threshold for an arrest and for a search warrant.
- Seizure of a personThe moment a person is no longer free to leave, by physical force or by a show of authority they submit to. Everything the Fourth Amendment requires starts counting from that moment.