The federal health minister said Wednesday decriminalization of all drugs is not on the table when it comes to dealing with the opioid crisis.
Ginette Petitpas Taylor told reporters in Calgary there are a number of avenues the government is exploring because of the devastating impacts of the opioid crisis.
There were more than 2,800 apparent opioid-related deaths in the country last year and the available data for 2017 suggests the number of opioid-related deaths will exceed 3,000, according to Health Canada.
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“There’s no silver bullet solution to all of this,” Petitpas Taylor said. “We’ve come up with some innovative solutions; we’re working with front-line service providers and also with people with lived experience. Again there is not one solution to deal with this and decriminalization alone would not deal with this situation.”
Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh has called for the decriminalization of personal possession of all drugs.
Alberta’s NDP has no position but Associate Health Minister Brandy Payne told reporters on Monday the government is open to a discussion on the issue.
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The federal health minister, speaking at the Issues of Substance Conference in Calgary hosted by the Canadian Centre of Substance Use and Addiction, announced several measures in the government strategy to address the opioid crisis, including:
- Supporting a pilot project that would provide a safer pharmaceutical alternative (such as hydromorphone) to illegal drugs
- Authorizing supervised consumption sites to offer drug checking services
- Supporting innovative harm reduction pilot projects to provide drug checking services
- Working with provinces and territories to establish a streamlined protocol for temporary overdose prevention sites should the province or territory indicate urgent public health need.
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