A Progressive Conservative private member's bill is seeking to jail or slap large fines on people using pill presses illegally to make counterfeit opioids.
The bill from Michael Harris would fine anyone _ besides pharmacists _ using or possessing such machines up to $200,000 or send them to jail for up to six months.
A second offence would see the fine boosted to up to $350,000 and the maximum jail time increase to one year, while third and subsequent offences would carry a fine of up to $500,000 and jail of up to two years.
Harris says the people targeted by the bill are not pharmacists or chemists, they're ``scumbag drug dealers looking to make a profit.''
Nineteen-year-old Lelia Attar joined Harris today to call for his bill to be passed, saying she accidentally overdosed when she took what she thought was percocet bought from a colleague, not realizing it was laced with fentanyl.
Health Minister Eric Hoskins has called Harris' bill a simplistic approach, saying the fight against opioids must be multi-faceted.