R.C. § 2927.24 Contaminating Substance For Human Consumption Or Use Or Contamination With Hazardous Chemical, Biological, Or Radioactive Substance - Spreading False Report of Contamination

• Library: Ohio Statutes
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current with legislation from 2024 received as of February 15, 2024.
• Year: 2023
• Citation: R.C. § 2927.24

(A) As used in this section:

(1) "Poison" has the same meaning as in section 3719.01 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Drug" has the same meaning as in section 4729.01 of the Revised Code.

(3) "Hazardous chemical, biological, or radioactive substance" means any of the following:

(a) Any toxic or poisonous chemical, the precursor of any toxic or poisonous chemical, or any toxin;

(b) Any disease organism or biological agent;

(c) Any substance or item that releases or is designed to release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life.

(4) "Biological agent" means any microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product that may be engineered through biotechnology, or any naturally occurring or bioengineered component of any microorganism, virus, infectious substance, or biological product that may be engineered through biotechnology, capable of causing death, disease, or other biological malfunction in a human, an animal, a plant, or another living organism, deterioration of food, water, equipment, supplies, or material of any kind, or deleterious alteration of the environment.

(5) "Toxin" means the toxic material of plants, animals, microorganisms, viruses, fungi, or infectious substances, or a recombinant molecule, whatever its origin or method of reproduction, including, but not limited to, any poisonous substance or biological product that may be engineered through biotechnology or produced by a living organism and any poisonous isomer or biological product, homolog, or derivative of any substance or product of that nature.

(B) Except as provided in division (D) of this section, no person shall do any of the following:

(1) Knowingly mingle a poison, hazardous chemical, biological, or radioactive substance, or other harmful substance with a food, drink, nonprescription drug, prescription drug, or pharmaceutical product, or knowingly place a poison, hazardous chemical, biological, or radioactive substance, or other harmful substance in a spring, well, reservoir, or public water supply, if the person knows or has reason to know that the food, drink, nonprescription drug, prescription drug, pharmaceutical product, or water may be ingested or used by another person. For purposes of this division, a person does not know or have reason to know that water may be ingested or used by another person if it is disposed of as waste into a household drain including the drain of a toilet, sink, tub, or floor.