Parliamentary secretary Chris Fearne announced in parliament that Good Samaritans who seek help for overdose victims will not be prosecuted.

This is a laudable, and commendable piece of common sense and empathy that should have been in practice for the past 30 years. Let us make no bones about it and have some straight talk. Heroin users often take the drug together. Again, let us talk frankly, heroin is a terrible and nasty drug that kills people and all those who deal in it should be hauled before the courts and have the full weight of the book thrown at them.

But what if, as often happens, a group of friends decide to abuse the drug together and one of them overdoses? It is not the first time that people have been left to die when a simple antidote injection at hospital could snap them out of their stupor. As things stand, anyone who might take a person to casualty might be charged with heroin trafficking, if it is found that that person bought the drugs and they were then shared.

The case of Rachel Bowdler springs to mind. She overdosed and her friend (and his family) decided not to take her to hospital. She subsequently died and her body was unceremoniously dumped in a field. How utterly, sad and tragic. We need to acknowledge that heroin is in our midst and some people go down that road. But should they have to die, just because our archaic laws do not provide protection for a fellow drug user who might save their life?

In the old days of St Luke’s Hospital, people used to drive by and literally dump overdose victims on the doorstep of the hospital. Given the laws as they are, it is the only thing they could do to escape prosecution, but still try and do the right thing.

Addicts are not criminals by default. Besides, there might be cases where people might have tried heroin for the first time and ended up suffering from an overdose. It is a good move. Dr Fearne also highlighted other issues and one of the most pertinent was that while illicit drug consumption can cause harm, the consumption of alcohol and the use of tobacco are still the most dangerous activities of all. Alcohol and tobacco are normalised. It is normal for people to go out and have a drink and by default, it becomes normal – even for non smokers – to have a cigarette. But that culture of entitlement is what makes the two so dangerous. They are legal, and so one drink becomes two, then five and even ten or more. It is correct to tackle the issue of hard drugs, but we must also tackle the issue of soft drugs – and alcohol and tobacco are exactly that.