Naloxone ban at music festival could cost lives, Ottawa woman fears

An Ottawa woman says she's concerned an upcoming Ontario music festival's decision to ban naloxoneat the event could cost lives.

Naloxone is a potentially life-saving opioidantidote that comes in either injectableor nasal spray form.

WayHome Music & Arts is a weekend-long music bash happening the last week of July at a campground north of Toronto. The festival'swebsite does not explicitly state that no naloxonekits will be allowed, but when Maegan Mason asked if she could bring hers, she was toldno.

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"I really assumed I would be all right to bring it," she said.

Mason, who is trained in first aid and administeringnaloxone, said the festival didn't fully explain why, by disallowingnaloxone, it's lumping the antidote in with what it classifies as"drug paraphernalia."

An email from organizers to Masonsaid their medical team was "well aware" of naloxone, but attendees are forbidden tobringit onto event grounds.

"I was a little bitsurprised.This is life-saving medication," Mason said.

WayHomeorganizers refused to respond to questions from CBC News about their policy on naloxone.

Opioid overdoses on the rise in Ontario

With an average of two opioid-relateddeaths in Ontario every day, public health officials have been working to familiarize people with the signs of an overdose.

In Ottawa alone, drug overdoses accounted for some 700 emergency room visits in the first half of 2017.

"Festivalgoers who choose to use drugs should remember to carry naloxone," said Ashley Brambles, a projectofficer at Ottawa Public Health.

Both syringe and nasal spraykits have been made available to the public for free.

Manysummer music festivals including Escapade in Ottawa and Shambhala in British Columbiaencourage festivalgoersto bring drug test kits and naloxonewith them.

Websites for Ottawa Bluesfest and Osheagaalso forbid "drug paraphernalia," but don't make it clear whether that includes naloxonekits.

Bluesfestspokesperson Joe Reilly said the festival consulted Ottawa Public Health about it, and decided toallowit.

"There is no risk ifnaloxoneis injected by accident so we didn't see any harm in allowing people to bring it on site. There were no public safety reasons to not allow it;in fact, there were public safety reasons to do it."

'Perpetuating ignorance'

Mason, who said she witnessed someone overdose last year at Osheaga,said even with the presence of paramedicsit's nearly impossible for them to reach peopleat the centre of largecrowds, so allowing other festivalgoers to carry naloxonecould save lives.

No matter what precautions are taken, there are going to be drugs.- MaeganMason

"You're perpetuating ignorance," she said of WayHome's approach. "No matter what precautions are taken, there are going to be drugs. Even just allowing the nasal spray is a step towards making a better festival."

Mason is frustrated some festival organizers appear to be conflating drugs with antidotes that could save lives.

"It doesn't matter whether you're doing drugs orif you've never touched them in your entire life.It's all about this community of people that are together for four days and what can we do to make it the best time possible, so that no one has any risk of ruining their weekend or worst case scenario, having a fatal incident."