The province’s justice minister says he is open to having conversations about the decriminalization of small amounts of illicit drugs, but believes it is a long way away.

Chiefs of police from across the country recently made a public plea to make the change in order to help those with substance abuse issues.

Andrew Parsons says he has not formulated an opinion on the matter yet. He goes on to say that he supported the legalization of weed, but notes some key differences between the two situations: There was much more research done on cannabis legalization, and legalizing weed only involved one drug, whereas this new call would involve several.

Parsons admits there is a lack of supports for those with addictions issues, which is why many end up repeating the cycle when they are released from prison.

He says sometimes the justice system is not the best way to deal with these issues, and there are people in the system who should not be there.

Parsons goes on to say his department has been working with the department of Health and Community Services to work on some of the issues.

According to Parsons, there is also a public discourse that needs to be had. He doesn’t believe people will be as receptive to this as they were with the legalization of weed.