G.D. Hancock, Ph.D.
Idaho has one law on supplying drugs that cause a death.
Added in 2024. A person who unlawfully delivers or traffics a controlled substance, providing it to someone, when a person dies from taking any amount of it.
A person who seeks medical help in good faith for someone having a drug-related emergency, and the person having it, cannot be charged with possession, being under the influence or paraphernalia when the evidence came from seeking help. It does not cover delivery.
Statute: Idaho Code § 37-2739C
Does calling for help protect against the drug-death charge? No.
The Good Samaritan law does not list the drug-death offense, so it does not protect against that charge.
Whatever the law says, if someone is overdosing, call 911. A life comes first. More on calling 911.
Federal law applies in every state. When death or serious bodily injury results from using a Schedule I or II drug that a person distributed, federal law sets a mandatory minimum of 20 years and a maximum of life. Federal prosecutors can bring this charge whatever the state law says. (21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)-(C))
5 cases in the published sample of the drug-induced homicide case database were prosecuted in Idaho. The database is still being built; the complete version will be published when it is finished.
This page describes what the statutes say, as of 7 October 2026. It is not legal advice, and it can’t tell you how a court will apply the law to any particular case. Laws change; check the statute, and please speak to a lawyer in Idaho about your own situation.