On Parliament Hill

Many of us know of families that have been torn apart from the use of dangerous and addictive drugs. Canadians understand that these drugs destroy lives and can promote criminal behavior.

We also inherently understand that governments should support treatment and recovery programs to get addicts off drugs instead of making it easier for them to consume the addictive substances.

All this common sense seems to be lost on the Liberal Government however.

Just two weeks before Christmas, Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott held a press-conference to announce that the Liberals are repealing the Respect for Communities Act. This law was put in place by the previous Conservative Government and gave police, residents, and municipal leaders a say when it comes to opening drug injection sites in their communities.

Instead, the Liberals are replacing it with a drug strategy that they say focuses on “a more balanced approach” – one that will make it easier for drug injection sites to pop up in communities across the country.

At the same time, the government is also proposing what appears to be a positive change to the Customs Act that will allow mail weighing 30 grams or less to be inspected if there are reasonable grounds to be suspicious of the package. This is expected to help fight the influx of opioids and in dealing with deadly substances like Fentanyl and Carfentanil.

So on one hand the Liberals are trying to stop the influx of dangerous drugs, which I applaud, and on the other hand they are looking to expand the number of drug injection sites across the country.

If that’s not confusing enough, Prime Minister Trudeau wants to legalize Marijuana despite the growing body of research that warns us of the possibility for significant damage to the growing brains of teens and young adults resulting from use of the drug.

So which is it Mr. Prime Minister? Should harmful drugs be kept out of the country or should they be legalized and injected at an increasing number of government approved injection sites in our communities?

The Liberal Government’s drug strategy is a mess to say the least.

If you found the Liberal drug strategy incoherent in 2016, just wait for what 2017 is about to bring us.