BROOKFIELD, N.S. – Zach Churchill’s Liberals plan to decriminalize hard drugs, like cocaine and fentanyl, according to a Nova Scotia Liberal Party policy document.
The 2024 Official Party Policies document states that the policies contained in the document “earned majority support as official policy of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party.”
Policy five is euphemistically titled “Comprehensive Substance Use Disorder Program with Harm Reduction Measures Resolution.” The policy trumpets Portugal’s drug policies and calls for increased use of safe consumption sites.
Portugal decriminalized all drug use, including marijuana, cocaine and heroin. However, according to the Washington Post, Portugal is now having doubts:
“Portugal decriminalized all drug use, including marijuana, cocaine and heroin, in an experiment that inspired similar efforts elsewhere, but now police are blaming a spike in the number of people who use drugs for a rise in crime. In one neighborhood, state-issued paraphernalia — powder-blue syringe caps, packets of citric acid for diluting heroin — litters sidewalks outside an elementary school.”
“Liberals want to make it easier for Nova Scotians to use hard drugs,” said Scott Armstrong, PC candidate for Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley. “This policy will increase addictions, homelessness, and crime - it is a failed policy that puts lives and communities at risk.”
“This is unconscionable.”
The Nova Scotia Liberal Party policy document calls for less policing of hard drugs and criminals who sell hard drugs and believes that users and dealers should be able to use hard drugs “without fear of legal repercussions.”
The policy includes plans to have the decriminalization agenda spread into schools. According to the document, the policy will provide “education in schools and community settings.”
“It is bad enough that Liberals want to increase hard drug use while reducing legal consequences associated with hard drugs,” said Armstrong. “Now, they want to start sharing information about their dangerous drug decriminalization agenda in our schools.”
Armstrong said these dangerous drug decriminalization policies failed Portugal.
Recent statistics show:
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The percentage of adults who have used illicit drugs nearly doubled to 12.8 percent in 2022.
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“Overdose rates have hit 12-year highs and almost doubled in Lisbon from 2019 to 2023.”
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“Sewage samples in Lisbon show cocaine and ketamine detection is now among the highest in Europe, with elevated weekend rates suggesting party-heavy usage.”
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“In Porto, the collection of drug-related debris from city streets surged 24 percent between 2021 and 2022, with this year on track to far outpace the last.”
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“Crime — including robbery in public spaces — spiked 14 percent from 2021 to 2022, a rise police blame partly on increased drug use.”
“This is what the Nova Scotia liberals call ‘successes,’” said Armstrong. “We don’t need more hard drugs and overdoses in Nova Scotia.”