Jagmeet Singh witnesses opioid overdose crisis in B.C., urges federals declare opioid addiction a national crisis.

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Meeshika Sharma
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NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says he's witnessed the devastation of B.C.'s opioid overdose epidemic and it breaks his heart.

Singh visited an overdose prevention site in Vancouver this week where he saw people struggling with addiction and learned how to administer the opioid overdose reversing medication naloxone.

publive-imageHe told about two thousand delegates attending the B.C. NDP convention on Saturday that Canada's drug laws should reflect that drug addiction is a social justice issue and not a criminal justice matter.He called on the federal government to declare opioid addiction a national crisis.

Singh added that the New Democrats would decriminalize personal possession of all drugs, not just marijuana adding, "I saw that people's lives are being destroyed while the federal government does little or nothing, and it breaks my heart.I saw with my own eyes the devastation of the opioid crisis."

Singh, elected NDP leader last month, said the federal New Democrats must become the party that represents the lives and hopes of Canadians.

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