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FEDELI FENTANYL PATCH BILL UP FOR DEBATE THIS WEEK

QUEEN’S PARK – A Private Members’ bill introduced by Nipissing MPP Vic Fedeli
which aims to stem the growing abuse of a popular pain medication in communities
across the province will come up for Second Reading in the Ontario Legislature on
Thursday.

Bill 33, the Safeguarding Our Communities Act (Fentanyl Patch for Patch Return Policy),
2014 was introduced by Fedeli in the Legislature in October 2014. It would implement a
Fentanyl patch return policy that was pioneered in North Bay in communities across
Ontario.

“We need to help them deal with what is becoming a growing concern from both a
health, social, and criminal standpoint,” said Fedeli, who noted at least 15 deaths in
North Bay alone have been linked to Fentanyl.

The bill would give health care practitioners across Ontario greater control over Fentanyl
patches, which currently are being sold illicitly for large sums of money to addicts.

Since the introduction of Bill 33, several other Ontario communities have acted to curb
fentanyl abuse, including Guelph, Muskoka, Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury, and Timmins.

“I believe the approach advocated in my bill and which has already produced positive
results in North Bay is a model that will curb the dangerous trend of fentanyl abuse
across Ontario, and I hope to have all-party support to move this initiative forward,”
Fedeli concluded.

For more information, or to arrange an interview, contact:
Clint Thomas
Executive Assistant
(416) 325-3434 or (416) 710-1752