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Three leading doctors’ groups will not participate in a taxpayer-funded advertising campaign against marijuana, saying the ads had become a “political football” in the debate over legal status of the drug.

In a rare joint statement issued Saturday, the Canadian Medical Association, the College of Family Physicians of Canada and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada said they would decline Health Canada’s invitation to endorse a campaign on the dangers of marijuana use by young people.

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The ad campaign, with an estimated budget of $5 million, would not have directly targeted Liberal leader Justin Trudeau’s support for the legalization and regulation of marijuana sales, but comes at the Conservative Party mounts its own increasingly virulent attacks on his pot position.

Health Canada had asked the physicians’ groups to review the ads for accuracy and lend their logos and endorsements, which would have lent added credibility to the campaign but could have drawn doctors into the politically-charged debate.