Substance use is a health issue, one that requires a coordinated, integrated, and compassionate system, like Portugal’s. This means treatment on demand, recovery supports, prevention and education, and access to regulated alternatives that replace the toxic, unregulated drug supply.
This moment demands courage and federal leadership. The federal government was able to convene a national summit on auto theft, an important issue, to be sure, but one that does not carry the same life-and-death consequences as the toxic drug poisoning crisis. It now being a decade since BC declared it a public health emergency and this crisis deserves the same level of urgency and attention by the federal government.
Gord Johns and the NDP are calling for a national summit on the toxic drug crisis, bringing together public health experts, law enforcement, frontline workers, and people with lived and living experience. This crisis should never be about politics. It must be about saving lives.
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