I'm not sure why the federal government is being fingered here particularly. The drug was approved by Health Canada for its legitimate use in pain control, surely it is the provinces' responsibility to monitor prescribing habits of physicians and, with the municipalities, its illegal use outside RCMP jurisdictions. Is it Health Canada's responsibility to ensure that provincially regulated doctors prescribe appropriately? Since all ten provinces seem to have signed on to the deal with Purdue, why is it the federal government's responsibility to override them?

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