Rhode Island General Laws Title 11. Criminal Offenses § 11-23-7. Controlled substance delivery resulting in death

(a) A person is guilty of a controlled substance delivery resulting in death when, as a result of an unlawful delivery of a controlled substance in exchange for anything of value to an adult, death results to that adult because of the ingestion orally, or the injection or inhalation of the controlled substance.

(b) A person is guilty of a controlled substance delivery resulting in death when, as a result of an unlawful delivery of a controlled substance to another person who subsequently delivers such controlled substance to an adult, death results to that adult because of the ingestion orally or the injection or inhalation of the controlled substance.

(c) Those in violation of subsection (a) or (b), upon conviction, shall be imprisoned up to life.

(d) For the purposes of this section only, any person who, in good faith, without malice and in the absence of evidence of an intent to defraud, seeks medical assistance for someone experiencing a controlled substance overdose shall not be charged or prosecuted for a violation of this section, if the evidence for the charge was gained as a result of the seeking of medical assistance.

(e) The phrase “ in exchange for anything of value” does not apply to the act of sharing a controlled substance when the sharing results in the proximate cause of a person's death under this section.