2025 Georgia Codes – Page 194

Amended 2024
[Note: The 2024 amendment to this section consisted solely of a technical, nonsubstantive correction.]
(a) As used in this Code section, the term:
(1) “Drug overdose” means an acute condition, including, but not limited to, extreme physical illness,
decreased level of consciousness, respiratory depression, coma, mania, or death, resulting from the con-
sumption or use of a controlled substance or dangerous drug by the distressed individual in violation of this
chapter or that a reasonable person would believe to be resulting from the consumption or use of a con-
trolled substance or dangerous drug by the distressed individual.
(2) “Drug violation” means:
(A) A violation of subsection (a) of Code Section 16-13-30 for possession of a controlled substance if the
aggregate weight, including any mixture, is less than four grams of a solid substance, less than one millili-
ter of liquid substance, or if the substance is placed onto a secondary medium with a combined weight of
less than four grams;
(B) A violation of paragraph (1) of subsection (j) of Code Section 16-13-30 for possession of less than one
ounce of marijuana; or
(C) A violation of Code Section 16-13-32.2, relating to possession and use of drug related objects.
(3) “Medical assistance” means aid provided to a person by a healthcare professional licensed, registered,
or certified under the laws of this state who, acting within his or her lawful scope of practice, may provide
diagnosis, treatment, or emergency medical services.
(4) “Seeks medical assistance” means accesses or assists in accessing the 9-1-1 system or otherwise con-
tacts or assists in contacting law enforcement or a poison control center and provides care to a person while
awaiting the arrival of medical assistance to aid such person.
(b) Any person who in good faith seeks medical assistance for a person experiencing or believed to be expe-
riencing a drug overdose shall not be arrested, charged, or prosecuted for a drug violation if the evidence
for the arrest, charge, or prosecution of such drug violation resulted solely from seeking such medical assis-
tance. Any person who is experiencing a drug overdose and, in good faith, seeks medical assistance for
himself or herself or is the subject of such a request shall not be arrested, charged, or prosecuted for a drug
violation if the evidence for the arrest, charge, or prosecution of such drug violation resulted solely from
seeking such medical assistance. Any such person shall also not be subject to, if related to the seeking of
such medical assistance:
(1) Penalties for a violation of a permanent or temporary protective order or restraining order; or
(2) Sanctions for a violation of a condition of pretrial release, condition of probation, or condition of parole
based on a drug violation.
(c) Nothing in this Code section shall be construed to limit the admissibility of any evidence in connection
with the investigation or prosecution of a crime with regard to a defendant who does not qualify for the
protections of subsection (b) of this Code section or with regard to other crimes committed by a person who
otherwise qualifies for protection pursuant to subsection (b) of this Code section. Nothing in this Code sec-
tion shall be construed to limit any seizure of evidence or contraband otherwise permitted by law. Nothing in
this Code section shall be construed to limit or abridge the authority of a law enforcement officer to detain or
take into custody a person in the course of an investigation or to effectuate an arrest for any offense except as
provided in subsection (b) of this Code section.

Amended 2024
[Note: The 2024 amendment to this section consisted solely of a technical, nonsubstantive correction.]
As used in this article, the term:
(0.5) “Addiction” means a primary, chronic, neurobiologic disease with genetic, psychosocial, and environ-
mental factors influencing its development and manifestations. It is characterized by behaviors that include
the following: impaired control drug use, craving, compulsive use, and continued use despite harm. Physical
dependence and tolerance are normal physiological consequences of extended opioid therapy for pain and
are not the same as addiction.
(1) “Administer” means the direct application of a controlled substance, whether by injection, inhalation,
ingestion, or by any other means, to the body of a patient or research subject by:
(A) A practitioner or, in his or her presence, by his or her authorized agent; or
(B) The patient or research subject at the direction and in the presence of the practitioner.
(1.1) “Agency” means the Georgia Drugs and Narcotics Agency established pursuant to Code Section 26-4-
29.
(2) “Agent” of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser means an authorized person who acts on behalf of or
at the direction of a manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser. It does not include a common or contract carrier,
public warehouseman, or employee of the carrier or warehouseman.
(2.1) “Board” means the State Board of Pharmacy or its designee, so long as such designee is another state
entity.
(3) “Bureau” means the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.
(4) “Controlled substance” means a drug, substance, or immediate precursor in Schedules I through V of
Code Sections 16-13-25 through 16-13-29 and Schedules I through V of 21 C.F.R. Part 1308.
(5) “Conveyance” means any object, including aircraft, vehicle, or vessel, but not including a person, which
may be used to carry or transport a substance or object.
(6) “Counterfeit substance” means:
(A) A controlled substance which, or the container or labeling of which, without authorization, bears the
trademark, trade name, or other identifying mark, imprint, number, or device, or any likeness thereof, of a
manufacturer, distributor, or dispenser other than the person who in fact manufactured, distributed, or dis-
pensed the controlled substance;
(B) A controlled substance or noncontrolled substance, which is held out to be a controlled substance or
marijuana, whether in a container or not which does not bear a label which accurately or truthfully identifies
the substance contained therein; or
(C) Any substance, whether in a container or not, which bears a label falsely identifying the contents as a
controlled substance.
(6.1) “Dangerous drug” means any drug, other than a controlled substance, which cannot be dispensed except
upon the issuance of a prescription drug order by a practitioner authorized under this chapter.
(6.2) “DEA” means the United States Drug Enforcement Administration.
(7) “Deliver” or “delivery” means the actual, constructive, or attempted transfer from one person to another
of a controlled substance, whether or not there is an agency relationship.
(8) “Dependent,” “dependency,” “physical dependency,” “psychological dependency,” or “psychic depen-
dency” means and includes the state of adaptation that is manifested by drug class specific signs and symp-
toms that can be produced by abrupt cessation, rapid dose reduction, decreasing blood level of the drug, and
administration of an antagonist. Physical dependence, by itself, does not equate with addiction.
(9) “Dispense” means to deliver a controlled substance to an ultimate user or research subject by or pursu-
ant to the lawful order of a practitioner, including the prescribing, administering, packaging, labeling, or
compounding necessary to prepare the substance for that delivery, or the delivery of a controlled substance
by a practitioner, acting in the normal course of his or her professional practice and in accordance with this
article, or to a relative or representative of the person for whom the controlled substance is prescribed.
(10) “Dispenser” means a person licensed under the laws of this state, or any other state or territory of the
United States, to dispense or deliver a Schedule II, III, IV , or V controlled substance to the ultimate user in
this state but shall not include:
(A) A pharmacy licensed as a hospital pharmacy by the Georgia State Board of Pharmacy pursuant to Code
Section 26-4-110;
(B) An institutional pharmacy that serves only a healthcare facility, including, but not limited to, a nursing
home, an intermediate care home, a personal care home, or a hospice program, which provides patient care
and which pharmacy dispenses such substances to be administered and used by a patient on the premises of
the facility;
(C) A practitioner or other authorized person who administers such a substance; or
(D) A pharmacy operated by, on behalf of, or under contract with the Department of Corrections for the sole
and exclusive purpose of providing services in a secure environment to prisoners within a penal institution,
penitentiary, prison, detention center, or other secure correctional institution. This shall include correctional
institutions operated by private entities in this state which house inmates under the Department of Correc-
tions.
(11) “Distribute” means to deliver a controlled substance, other than by administering or dispensing it.
(12) “Distributor” means a person who distributes.
(12.05) “FDA” means the United States Food and Drug Administration.
(12.1) “Imitation controlled substance” means:
(A) A product specifically designed or manufactured to resemble the physical appearance of a controlled
substance such that a reasonable person of ordinary knowledge would not be able to distinguish the imita-
tion from the controlled substance by outward appearances; or
(B) A product, not a controlled substance, which, by representations made and by dosage unit appearance,
including color, shape, size, or markings, would lead a reasonable person to believe that, if ingested, the
product would have a stimulant or depressant effect similar to or the same as that of one or more of the con-
trolled substances included in Schedules I through V of Code Sections 16-13-25 through 16-13-29.
(13) “Immediate precursor” means a substance which the State Board of Pharmacy has found to be and by
rule identifies as being the principal compound commonly used or produced primarily for use, and which is
an immediate chemical intermediary used or likely to be used, in the manufacture of a controlled substance,
the control of which is necessary to prevent, curtail, or limit manufacture.
(14) “Isomers” means stereoisomers (optical isomers), geometrical isomers, and structural isomers (chain and
positional isomers) but shall not include functional isomers.
(15) “Manufacture” means the production, preparation, propagation, compounding, conversion, or process-
ing of a controlled substance, either directly or indirectly by extraction from substances of natural origin, or
independently by means of chemical synthesis, and includes any packaging or repackaging of the substance
or labeling or relabeling of its container, except that this term does not include the preparation, compound-
ing, packaging, or labeling of a controlled substance:
(A) By a practitioner as an incident to his or her administering or dispensing of a controlled substance in the
course of his or her professional practice; or
(B) By a practitioner or by his or her authorized agent under his or her supervision for the purpose of, or as
an incident to, research, teaching, or chemical analysis and not for sale.
(16) “Marijuana” means all parts of the plant of the genus Cannabis, whether growing or not, the seeds
thereof, the resin extracted from any part of such plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt, derivative,
mixture, or preparation of such plant, its seeds, or resin, but shall not include samples as described in sub-
paragraph (P) of paragraph (3) of Code Section 16-13-25; shall not include the completely defoliated mature
stalks of such plant, fiber produced from such stalks, oil, or cake, or the completely sterilized samples of
seeds of the plant which are incapable of germination; and shall not include hemp or hemp products as such
terms are defined in Code Section 2-23-3. Such term shall not include products approved by the federal Food
and Drug Administration under Section 505 of the federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.
(17) “Narcotic drug” means any of the following, whether produced directly or indirectly by extraction from
substances of vegetable origin, or independently by means of chemical synthesis, or by a combination of
extraction and chemical synthesis:
(A) Opium and opiate, and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium or opiate;
(B) Any salt, compound, isomer, derivative, or preparation thereof which is chemically equivalent or identi-
cal to any of the substances referred to in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph, but not including the isoquin-
oline alkaloids of opium;
(C) Opium poppy and poppy straw; or
(D) Coca leaves and any salt, compound, derivative, stereoisomers of cocaine, or preparation of coca leaves,
and any salt, compound, stereoisomers of cocaine, derivative, or preparation thereof which is chemically
equivalent or identical to any of these substances, but not including decocainized coca leaves or extractions
of coca leaves which do not contain cocaine or ecgonine.
(17.1) “Noncontrolled substance” means any drug or other substance other than a controlled substance as
defined by paragraph (4) of this Code section.
(18) “Opiate” means any substance having an addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining liability similar
to morphine or being capable of conversion into a drug having addiction-forming or addiction-sustaining
liability. It does not include, unless specifically designated as controlled under Code Section 16-13-22, the
dextrorotatory isomer of 3-methoxy-n-methylmorphinan and its salts (dextromethorphan). It does include its
racemic and levorotatory forms.
(19) “Opium poppy” means the plant of the species Papaver somniferum L., except its seeds.
(19.1) “Patient” means the person who is the intended consumer of a drug for whom a prescription is issued
or for whom a drug is dispensed.
(20) “Person” means an individual, corporation, government, or governmental subdivision or agency, busi-
ness trust, estate, trust, partnership, or association, or any other legal entity.
(21) “Poppy straw” means all parts, except the seeds, of the opium poppy after mowing.
(22) “Potential for abuse” means and includes a substantial potential for a substance to be used by an indi-
vidual to the extent of creating hazards to the health of the user or the safety of the public, or the substantial
potential of a substance to cause an individual using that substance to become dependent upon that sub-
stance.
(23) “Practitioner” means:
(A) A physician, dentist, pharmacist, podiatrist, scientific investigator, or other person licensed, registered, or
otherwise authorized under the laws of this state to distribute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or
administer a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this state;
(B) A pharmacy, hospital, or other institution licensed, registered, or otherwise authorized by law to distrib-
ute, dispense, conduct research with respect to, or administer a controlled substance in the course of profes-
sional practice or research in this state;
(C) An advanced practice registered nurse acting pursuant to the authority of Code Section 43-34-25. For
purposes of this chapter and Code Section 43-34-25, an advanced practice registered nurse is authorized to
register with the DEA and appropriate state authorities; or
(D) A physician assistant acting pursuant to the authority of subsection (e.1) of Code Section 43-34-103. For
purposes of this chapter and subsection (e.1) of Code Section 43-34-103, a physician assistant is authorized
to register with the DEA and appropriate state authorities.
(23.1) “Prescriber” means a physician, dentist, scientific investigator, or other person licensed, registered, or
otherwise authorized under the laws of this state, or any other state or territory of the United States, to pre-
scribe a controlled substance in the course of professional practice or research in this state.
(24) “Production” includes the manufacture, planting, cultivation, growing, or harvesting of a controlled
substance.
(25) “Registered” or “register” means registration as required by this article.
(26) “Registrant” means a person who is registered under this article.
(26.1) “Schedule II, III, IV , or V controlled substance” means a controlled substance that is classified as a
Schedule II, III, IV , or V controlled substance under Code Section 16-13-26, 16-13-27, 16-13-28, or 16-13-
29, respectively, or under the federal Controlled Substances Act, 21 U.S.C. Section 812.
(27) “State,” when applied to a part of the United States, includes any state, district, commonwealth, territory,
insular possession thereof, or any area subject to the legal authority of the United States.
(27.1) “Tolerance” means a physiologic state resulting from regular use of a drug in which an increased
dosage is needed to produce a specific effect or a reduced effect is observed with a constant dose over time.
Tolerance may or may not be evident during opioid treatment and does not equate with addiction.
(28) “Ultimate user” means a person who lawfully possesses a controlled substance for his or her own use,
for the use of a member of his or her household, or for administering to an animal owned by him or her or by
a member of his or her household or an agent or representative of the person.