Mr. Speaker, the opioid crisis is a national public health crisis. Our government is committed to treating this issue as a health crisis and not as a criminal problem. We understand that we need to reduce the stigma and the barriers to treatment. Our government has taken a number of initiatives to do so. Although decriminalization will not guarantee the quality of the drugs, we have made it easier for health care professionals to access opioid substitution therapies, and we supported the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act.
In the House of Commons on April 24th, 2018. See this statement in context.