A bill directed to stem Canada's opioid crisis is now law thanks to a Tri-City MP.
Today, Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam Liberal MP Ron McKinnon was in Rideau Hall with Gov.-Gen. David Johnston to see his Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act receive royal assent.
Bill C-224, which passed the last legislative hurdles on Tuesday night after receiving cross-party support, is the MP's first private member's bill since being elected in October 2015.
It is also the first private member's bill to be passed by both the House of Commons and the Senate in this sitting of Parliament.
"I'm very delighted and relieved," McKinnon told The Tri-City News Thursday. "We have a lot of people in our community who know somebody or who they themselves have encountered drugs on a daily basis. We need them to know they can call for help and not be fearful of being charged."
Under the act, anyone who calls 911 to report a drug overdose can't be charged for drug possession in connection with the incident. The immunity doesn't apply to offences such as drug trafficking and driving while impaired.
The act mirrors similar Good Samaritan legislation in 37 U.S. states, where opioids are also wreaking havoc on communities.
Last month, the B.C. Coroners Service reported 120 suspected drug overdose deaths in March — a 51.9% spike compared with March 2016. Three quarters of illicit drug overdose deaths are people aged between 19 and 49, and males account for 82.7% of the deaths.
And this week, B.C.'s chief medical officer, Dr. Perry Kendall, who also leads the province's opioid task force, said there are new types of the opioid fentanyl that are harder to treat with the remedy naloxone. A new drug called acrylfentanyl has chemical compounds that are similar to fentanyl and is circulating on Vancouver streets.
McKinnon called B.C. "ground zero" for the opioid epidemic but "there are thousands of people right across the country who are losing their lives. If we can save a life with this law, it makes it worthwhile."
In a statement from Health Canada, released today, Health Minister Jane Philpott added, "During an overdose, a call to 911 can often be the difference between life and death. We hope that this new law, and the legal protection it offers, will help encourage those who experience or witness an overdose to make that important call, and save a life.”
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
