OTTAWA—The federal Liberal government will soon move to eliminate criminal law consequences for marijuana use but Health Minister Jane Philpott turned aside calls Wednesday to decriminalize other illicit drugs in the face of an opioid crisis.

After an impassioned speech Wednesday to a drug policy conference on how she is personally “fixated” on ending opioid overdose deaths, Philpott said the government would not loosen criminal laws on any other controlled substances.

Philpott first said it wasn’t solely up to her because she works with ministers of justice and public safety on drug policy. Finally, she suggested the only way to support a broader health approach to other drugs is to gather “a lot more evidence” through pilot projects.

“Basically all I can say is you’re absolutely right, that’s part of the challenge,” said Philpott. “That’s going to take a whole lot of work on the part of a lot of people.”

She was more emphatic afterwards in an interview with the Star.

“We do not have plans for legalization and regulation of any other controlled substances other than cannabis, but having said that we are wanting to make sure that we respond to a very serious public health crisis. And if it’s necessary in a medically-controlled setting for people to have access to clean medications that they might otherwise purchase on the street then there needs to be broader opportunity for those evidence-based treatments.”

Philpott said there is already a range of “medical-assistance” or substitution treatment options “which could be used more” in the response to the opioid epidemic, but she said many health professionals are not yet comfortable with those.

“This is not about decriminalization, this is about finding ways in medically-supervised, physician-supervised settings for people to be given medications that could substitute for the opioids that they’re using that would allow them to stay alive, and have their substance use disorder treated in a way that would set them on a path to health.”

In her speech, Philpott had underlined the need to ensure a compassionate approach towards people who develop addictions to drugs.

She told nearly 200 policy experts, frontline justice, policing, corrections, health, social and addiction workers, parent groups and advocates for people who use drugs that she believes patients with “substance use disorders” should not be stigmatized.

“When we say that drug policy needs to be compassionate, it involves acknowledging that unresolved pain rests at the core of problematic substance use,” said Philpott, citing the work of Vancouver physician and author, Dr. Gabor Maté, who writes extensively on the subject of addictive behaviour.

And yet Philpott had no real answer when challenged by those in the audience why she wouldn’t then go beyond cannabis and decriminalize other drug use.

Nazlee Maghsoudi, of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy, asked Philpott “how meaningful de-stigmatization is possible in the context around criminalization.”

“I really see criminalization as systemic stigmatization, institutionalized stigmatization, and quite far from a compassionate and kind approach towards people who use drugs,” said Maghsoudi.

Richard Elliott, of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Network, echoed Maghsoudi’s concerns, telling Philpott he believed the government should work with policy experts and community organizations “to articulate why we need to move forward on decriminalization and not just stop at cannabis.”

Similar calls had been heard throughout the two-day forum.

Ann Fordham, head of the International Drug Policy Consortium, said she supported legalization of cannabis but urged Canada to “show leadership” and go even further to “decriminalize all drugs, not just cannabis,” saying harsh punitive anti-drug measures “fall most harshly on our most vulnerable and marginalized people.”

Philpott told the conference the federal Liberal government has restored the principle of “harm reduction” to Canada’s drug policy. The recent budget injected $100 million in new money to the national strategy on controlled drugs and substances, she said, and she reminded them the Liberals have allowed naloxone — the antidote to a fentanyl overdose — to be purchased without a prescription, and approved five new supervised injection sites while streamlining the application for others.

Philpott cited her experience as a medical doctor who gave up clinical practice to run for office in 2015, telling of a former patient who developed a dependence on opioids after a series of personal tragedies, including the death of two children in a car accident, chronic unemployment, homelessness, repetitive sexual abuse, and lack of social supports.

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Philpott said people like the woman deserve compassion and excellent health care, and responding to their needs “means calling out stigma and discrimination associated with drug use.”

Philpott said despite all efforts, drug overdose mortality rates are rising month by month, calling it “one of the biggest public health challenges that our country is facing.” She bemoaned an “appalling dearth of data,” saying all “stakeholders” have to help fill in the information gaps.

“We don’t know how many people in Canada are currently affected by opioid use disorder. We don’t know yet how many people in Canada died last year as a result of overdose,” she said.

However, a Vancouver health-care leader and conference participant told an earlier session that there’s no mystery to why authorities don’t realize the full extent of illicit drug use – it’s because the law makes users criminals.

The health minister also told critics to stop airing their concerns in the media. She contrasted her work to that of the previous government and assured them “I am listening to you.”

She said every time “you tweet at me” to tell of lives saved because patients were given naloxone or to tell about a death, or “lineups at the morgues in western Canada, I hear that, and it cuts me to the core.”

“I will work everyday to turn that around so please do not take the fact that I cannot fix this overnight, just like none of you can fix it overnight, does not mean I am not working every single day to solve this.”

In the interview with the Star, Philpott agreed with comments made Tuesday by Dr. Mark Ware, a co-chair of Ottawa’s task force on marijuana legalization, that more public education and research into marijuana is needed. She again became defensive when asked to respond to Ware’s call for immediate spending before the legislation takes effect, possibly in 2018.

“There’s investment in the budget 2017 which I encourage you to have a look at, and the initial investment of $9.6 million to go to public education. So the money is there,” said Philpott. “There’s been some initial rollout and people will increasingly see support for public education and research related to cannabis.”

Asked what prompted her comment that critics should stop airing concerns in the media, Philpott said “people are never happy with the amount of money invested.” She said she got complaints that supervised consumption sites weren’t approved fast enough.

“If they’re unhappy about the speed of things better that they come and talk to me directly.”

Correction – April 6, 2017: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the name of International Centre for Science in Drug Policy.