Harm reduction advocates say a Supreme Court of Canada case will test the current Good Samaritan law, which protects people from arrest after calling 911 to seek help for a person who overdoses.
Posted at 4:37 p.m.
Updated at 6:39 p.m.
Darryl Greer
The Canadian Press
The Supreme Court of Canada hearing on Tuesday will hear arguments over police powers to arrest people at the scene of a drug overdose, and whether a 2017 law known as Good Samaritans Rescuing Overdose Victims Actis clear about these powers.
Lawyer DJ Larkin, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, says the case stems from the arrest of Paul Wilson in Saskatchewan.
Outside a rural elementary school in the province one morning in the fall of 2020, Wilson and three others parked their truck and called 911 as a woman they were with suffered an overdose of fentanyl.
When police arrived, paramedics were already treating the woman. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officer who responded to the scene smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle and noticed a baggie that looked like crystal methamphetamine on the ground in front of the driver’s side door.
Wilson was arrested for drug possession, and a later search uncovered a bag containing firearms, false identification documents and a quantity of “apparent drugs.”
Wilson was convicted of several weapons charges in 2022, but the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled the drug possession arrest was illegal under the Good Samaritan law.
Mme Larkin says Wilson and others with him “did the right thing” by calling for medical help, likely saving the person’s life.
A coalition of associations in action
According to Mme Larkin, the Good Samaritan Act is supposed to immunize people from arrest for calling for help for overdose victims, and a coalition of drug advocacy groups is stepping in to provide to the court a “way” to clarify the public health objective of the law.
These laws must be clear and easy to understand. If someone must act in an emergency, they must know the risk they face. You shouldn’t need a law degree to understand what will happen if you call 911.
DJ Larkin, Executive Director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition
The groups, including the Association of Harm Reduction Nurses and the Association of Addiction Workers of Quebec, held an information session Monday to explain their role as interveners in the case and to highlight the legal issues involved.
They say the Supreme Court’s decision will have national implications for people who call 911 about overdoses and whether they are safe from arrest if they remain at the scene.
Corey Ranger, president of the Association of Harm Reduction Nurses, said the organization provides naloxone training for overdose prevention, telling those it trains that the Good Samaritan law will protect them from arrest at the scene of an overdose.
We tell people that you have to stay with the person who has overdosed, that leaving them behind represents a risk of death. If our education must change […] we will see many more people left at the scene of an overdose.
Corey Ranger, President of the Association of Harm Reduction Nurses
Mr. Ranger and Mr.me Larkin said the groups are intervening in the matter out of concern that a lack of clarity in the Good Samaritan law will cause people to delay or avoid calling 911 in the event of an overdose, or to leave the area by afraid of being arrested when the police arrive.
“If we want fewer workers to find dead people in tents, alleys, public toilets, then we must not compromise on the Good Samaritan provision,” Ranger argued.
Lawyer Maxime Bédard said the “main question” the Supreme Court panel will have to answer is whether police can legally arrest people for simple drug possession at the scene of an overdose, as had been Wilson in 2020.
Wilson was arrested for the offense, but was not charged with drug possession, although police used the initial arrest as a pretext for the search that uncovered the firearms that led to the charges of firearms.
Mme Larkin said the groups hope the Supreme Court’s decision in the case will provide a “guiding light” to courts across the country.
“The court has the opportunity to decide this case in a way that will serve as a model for other courts so that we can prevent harm, so that we can save the lives of our loved ones and members of our community,” said Ms.me Larkin.
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