Trudeau Liberals won't rule out decriminalizing cocaine and heroin amid opioid crisis

Heroin and cocaine appear to be next on the Liberal Party's list of potential drugs to be decriminalized, according to Health Minister Patty Hajdu.

Hajdu said that there was no "silver bullet" to battling problematic substance use, telling reporters: "as a person who has worked extensively in the area of drug policy I don’t believe that there’s any silver bullet to ending problematic substance use or in fact dealing with a crisis that is at hand."

"As much as I hear the calls across the country from many people, it’s something worth deliberating about,” Hajdu continued. "But certainly there is no silver bullet approach to dealing with problematic substance use in this country or any other country."

The sentiment is shared by Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam, who said she favoured “moving towards the societal discussion on decriminalization,” according to Blacklock's Reporter.

"From a public health perspective, I think I can speak on behalf of many of my colleagues," said Tam. "We know you cannot arrest your way out of an opioid crisis. It is escalating as we speak."

"I think supporting access to a safer supply of drugs is really critical," Tam continued. "Looking at some of the changes in prosecutorial guidance is a step in the right direction as well. In the end it is about recognizing there is a huge amount of stigma and discrimination towards persons who use drugs, and by providing a safer drug supply, safe consumption sites and also moving towards the societal discussion on decriminalization is all sort of really important. I think Canadians should be seized with this particular crisis which can actually happen to anyone."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had also previously voiced his opinion on the matter, saying in March: "we will take a look at the proposals, but as we said many times, we believe in harm reduction, we believe in evidence-based policy. Our approach is to ensure that people get the support they need. We do not believe that decriminalizing hard drugs is the solution right now."

In response to the comments, Conservative Party MP for Markham—Unionville Bob Saroya told The Post Millennial: "Trudeau keeps saying ‘not now’ to legalizing hard drugs. My constituents and most Canadians will never want the legalization of hard drugs."

"That is why my Conservative colleagues and I will continue to fight against the legalization of drugs like crack, meth, and heroin. We know these drugs ruin lives, families, and communities. The conversation we need to have is about stopping the supply of drugs, prevention, and addiction services," he added.

Conservative MP John Brassard also voiced concerns over the Liberal Party's new found position on decriminalization, stating: "Canadians are rightly concerned about Liberal policies that make it easier to use hard drugs like heroin, crack cocaine and meth,” said Brassard. “These policies will do nothing to help Canadians struggling with addiction on their path to recovery and will exacerbate the opioid crisis tearing apart our communities."

Previously, the Conservative Party was "fact checked" by The Globe and Mail, who claimed that Chinese-language ads saying that the Liberals were going to move towards legalizing hard drugs after Trudeau successfully legalized marijuana.

The ads were published in simplified Chinese and say : "Before Trudeau legalized marijuana, he now intends to legalize hard drugs!"

On October 12, 2019, when asked by reporters about the accuracy of the ad, then-Conservative Party Leader Andrew Scheer explained, "This is something that is very important to Canadians to know about ... we are telling them that these are the types of things Liberals speculate about before the election, and then implement after the election."

There are key differences between legalization and decriminalization, though. Legalization of drugs is would remove "all legal prohibitions against it," according to NCBI. Decriminalization, on the other hand, "is the act of removing criminal sanctions against an act, article, or behavior."