The Official Opposition is accusing government of squandering an opportunity to deal with the province’s drug problem.

PC Leader Tony Wakeham says in 2018 government killed a task force that focused on the drug trade and crime.

He was responding to information this week from the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office identifying cocaine as the leading cause of overdose deaths in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The province allocated $10 million in this year’s budget to develop a joint RNC/RCMP Task Force on drugs, weapons and critical incidents, but Wakeham says that doesn’t go far enough.

He calls it a “huge problem” which requires a multi-layered approach.

He referenced mobile mental health crisis teams. an issue he raised last week in the House of Assembly, and the “revolving door problem” at HMP.

“People are going into the penitentiary, (and) they’re coming out, but their issues are not being addressed.”