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In October, Ambrose announced she was closing “loopholes” in a drug access program that permitted doctors to provide heroin to addicts who had exited a B.C. medication research program.

The announcement was followed by a Conservative fundraising letter, stressing that the Harper government was taking a hard line against drugs.

The Conservative party also launched an ad campaign in October focusing on the Liberal policy to legalize marijuana and regulate the trade.

“Justin Trudeau has a famous last name, but he lacks the judgment to be prime minister,” the Conservatives said in October. “His only policy priority so far is to promote the legalization of marijuana. He wants to make it available for sale, like alcohol and tobacco. But that would dramatically increase its availability to minors and send the message that recreational drug use is acceptable.”

The campaign ran in Punjabi and English and was targeted particularly at immigrant communities, Maclean’s columnist Paul Wells wrote Wednesday.

In another report, Wells published the transcript of a Liberal ad now being played on radio stations in Cantonese, Mandarin and Punjabi: “In the past seven years of Stephen Harper and his Conservative government, our community has been flooded with marijuana. Justin Trudeau wants to tightly regulate marijuana, to keep it out of the hands of our kids and striking back at the criminals and gangs who distribute it. Stephen Harper’s approach has failed.

“We need a leader who is willing to tackle problems with solutions that actually work. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are looking out for themselves. Justin Trudeau is looking out for us. He’ll be a prime minister with real priorities. Authorized by the Liberal Party of Canada.”