A proposed law would stop police from charging people for minor drug offences when they call an ambulance for someone who has overdosed or had a bad reaction to drugs. But people who work in drug harm reduction say one part of the bill needs changing because it could accidentally get people in trouble for normal socialising.

The bill was introduced by Green MP Kahurangi Carter. Under the bill, if you call for help during an overdose, police could not charge you at the scene, and officers would not be allowed to search for evidence just because you made that emergency call. Drug dealers would not be protected. The bill does allow for 'social sharing' — meaning up to five friends can share or gift drugs to each other without being treated as dealers, as long as no one is making money from it (RNZ).

Emma Carroll, operations manager for drug checking service Know Your Stuff, told the committee in a personal capacity that the five-person limit should be raised to ten. She said substances are commonly bought by the gram and shared among up to ten friends. Carroll also warned that if friends pool money together, cover the cost of a meal, give someone a ride, or trade favours, they could be caught by the 'material benefit' rule — meaning they could be treated as if they were selling drugs (RNZ).

Know Your Stuff general manager Casey Spearin, appearing separately, pointed to findings from the Ministerial Advisory Group on Organised Crime that police drug seizures no longer affect how much supply or use is out there. Spearin also said Canada and the United States already have similar good Samaritan overdose laws. A 2019 change that gave police discretion over drug possession and use was, in Spearin's words, 'not evenly applied across different communities' (RNZ).

Know Your Stuff estimated the bill could save 18 to 29 lives a year based on current overdose rates (RNZ).

Peer support worker Zoe Deans also appeared before the committee. She said the fear of getting into trouble makes the physical and mental distress of a drug-related emergency even worse (RNZ).

The bill was sent to the Health Committee on 29 April 2026 after a vote in Parliament (Hansard). The NZ Drug Foundation put out a statement the day before, on 28 April, supporting the bill ahead of its parliamentary debate (NZ Drug Foundation). Community Scoop covered the bill's first reading in July 2026, reporting its core principle as 'if in doubt, call for help' (Community Scoop.

The Public Health Communication Centre published a briefing on 9 June 2026 by Jacek Kolodziej arguing that good Samaritan overdose laws can help reduce preventable deaths from accidental drug overdose (PHCC). RNZ reported on 25 June that the Health Committee was hearing submissions on the bill that week (RNZ).

The broader challenge the committee faces is getting the balance right. The exemptions need to be narrow enough to keep public and political support, but broad enough to actually reduce harm. Carroll's point about the 'material benefit' clause raises a real problem with the drafting: the line between selling drugs and sharing them among friends is not always clear. If the rule is broad enough to cover someone swapping a bag of groceries for a shared gram of something, it could catch people the bill was never meant to target.

Spearin's reference to the organised crime advisory group's findings feeds into a longer-running argument in drug policy circles that cracking down on supply does not make much difference at the user level. Combined with his point about the uneven application of the 2019 police discretion change, it raises a wider question about whether the criminal justice system is the right tool for managing drug-related harm in the first place. The committee will need to weigh those submissions against the political reality that any widening of the social sharing limit or loosening of the material benefit rule will draw criticism from people who see the bill as a step toward effectively decriminalising drugs.

What the select committee recommends on the five-to-ten person limit and the material benefit clause will help decide whether the bill can get enough support to pass its second reading.