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Canada's Liberals discuss policies on drugs, sex trade and pharmacare

| @indiablooms | Apr 21, 2018, at 12:50 pm

Ottawa, Apr 20 (IBNS): Liberal supporters had been reportedly pushing the Canadian government to take radical steps to solve the opioid crisis, decriminalize the purchase of sex and increase the accessibility of free medicines.

These views were aired by about 3,000 registered Liberal supporters who attended a session on the protection of the environment and economy growth at the Federal Liberal National Convention in Halifax, Nova Scotia, today, media reports said. 

In some cases, the federal government had been pushing back on a proposal to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of all drugs.

“Currently we treat patients as criminals and harm the very people we want to save,” Liberal MP Nathaniel Erskine-Smith said at a workshop on health and social policy today. “[Prohibition] doesn’t work, Canadians continue to use drugs and Canadians continue to die.”

Canada health minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor said a number of necessary steps had been taken by the federal government to deal with the opioid crisis, including easing restrictions on methadone and prescription heroin.

“Canada and Portugal are two very different countries,” she told reporters. “It’s not about adopting one model and bringing it to Canada, we have to look at what can be effective and efficient for Canada.”

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)

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