G.D. Hancock, Ph.D.

Iowa

Iowa has one law on supplying drugs that cause a death.

Statutes last checked 7 October 2026 · Not legal advice

Supplying drugs that cause a death

Sentence enhancement when a delivery causes death

Iowa has no separate drug-induced homicide crime, but a person who causes a death while manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance (or possessing it to deliver) faces a tripled sentence. A death counts as caused when the drug contributes to it. The enhancement does not apply to a person protected by the Good Samaritan law.

Statute
Iowa Code § 124.401(1)(g), (i)
Penalty
Three times the prison term the drug offense otherwise carries, with no deferred or suspended sentence. (A death-causing delivery that would carry 10 years carries 30.) (Iowa Code § 124.401(1)(g))

Calling for help: the Good Samaritan law

Information gained when a person seeks help for their own overdose, or when the first person to call for someone else's overdose gives their name, stays and cooperates, cannot be used against them for possession, paraphernalia, or delivery that consisted of sharing drugs without profit. It applies only once per person. Giving first aid or seeking help can be a mitigating factor in other prosecutions.

Statute: Iowa Code § 124.418

Does calling for help protect against the drug-death charge? In part.

The tripled sentence does not apply to a person protected by the Good Samaritan law, which covers delivery only where drugs were shared without profit.

Whatever the law says, if someone is overdosing, call 911. A life comes first. More on calling 911.

Federal law

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))

Cases from Iowa in the database sample

16 cases in the published sample of the drug-induced homicide case database were prosecuted in Iowa. The database is still being built; the complete version will be published when it is finished.

Sources

  1. Iowa Code § 124.401(1)(g), (i)
  2. Iowa Code § 124.418
  3. 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(A)-(C)

About this information

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 Iowa about your own situation.