 Mr. Chair, heads of state and government, ministers and distinguished delegates, I am honored to participate in this special session of the UN General Assembly. A few weeks ago, in preparation for this event, I met with a group of NGOs in Ottawa. There were lawyers, doctors, and highly articulate activists, but the most powerful voice of all belonged to a mother. She was there to tell the story of her young daughter who lost her life due to complications of substance use. She described watching her daughter slip away as she struggled to access the treatment and services that should have been available to save a beautiful, fragile life. Stories like this are far too commonplace. Countless lives are cut short due to overdoses of licent and illicit substances. Today I stand before you as Canada's Minister of Health to acknowledge that we must do better for our citizens. I am proud to stand up for a drug policy that is informed by solid scientific evidence and uses a lens of public health to maximize education and minimize harm. As a doctor who has worked both in Canada and in sub-Saharan Africa, I have seen too many people suffer the devastating consequences of drugs, drug-related crime, and ill-conceived drug policy. Fortunately, solutions are within our grasp. In my own country, I am impressed with the work of INSITE, a supervised consumption site where people with addiction can access the care and support they need. I am proud of how quickly we are making naloxone antidote kits available to save lives from overdoses. I am proud to work together to find solutions that are for large cities and communities that are remote. I know that this good will is present abroad. I have been encouraged by the recent report of the OECS President to put health and well-being in the center of a balanced approach to drug-related drug use. Our approach to drugs must be comprehensive, collaborative, and compassionate. It must respect human rights while promoting shared responsibility, and it must have a firm scientific foundation. In Canada, we will apply these principles with regard to marijuana. To that end, we will be introducing legislation in the spring of 2017 that ensures that we keep marijuana out of the hands of children and profits out of the hands of criminals. While this plan challenges the status quo in many countries, we are convinced it is the best way to protect our youth while enhancing public safety. Canada will continue to modernize our approach to drug policy. Our work will embrace upstream prevention, compassionate treatment, and harm reduction. We will work with law enforcement partners to encourage appropriate and proportionate criminal justice measures. We know it is impossible to arrest our way out of this problem. Addressing problematic drug use is a shared challenge. The solutions are also collective, involving governments, indigenous peoples, civil society, youth, scientists, and key UN agencies. I acknowledge that other countries and cultures will pursue approaches that differ from Canada's. I believe that if we respect one another's perspectives and seek common ground, we can achieve our shared objective, protecting our citizens. Better yet, we can improve their lives. Thank you. I thank the Minister of Health of Canada.