Nova Scotia's chief public health officer is among those calling on the government to treat drug use as a health issue, not a criminal one.
Dr. Robert Strang is one of the authors of a new report that says the current war on drugs simply isn't working.
"Certainly those who are addicted to substances, it's a health issue, it's a medical issue, it's not a criminal justice issue," says Strang. "They need and deserve our care and treatment, not just to be locked up in prison."
Strang goes on to say all illegal drugs should be regulated by the government, that school-based prevention programs don't work and that we need to look at more treatment programs and sage injection sites.
"Our current approach is costing us billions of dollars," says Strang. "It's not really achieving anything. It hasn't controlled drug use."
Louis Albert works at a Halifax smoke shop and has long believed in decriminalizing marijuana.
"You wouldn't have as much crime I don't think," says Albert. "Everybody's gonna keep going and it's just gonna drive prices up more and everything. People don't stop getting it, they're just gonna keep it more under the table if it's not legalized or decriminalized."
It's one of the suggestions echoed in a new paper in the international medical journal, Open Medicine.
It also opposes the government's recent plan to enact mandatory minimum sentences for drug law violations, all of which caused a heated debate in the House of Commons Wednesday.
"One of the things we won't do is try to legalize marijuana," said Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird. "We think that is not in the best interest of middle class families across this country."
"I think it's ridiculous," says Albert. "Nobody should have to go to jail for something that helps them."
While controversial, Albert's sentiment is now backed by a group of top provincial doctors.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kayla Hounsell
