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On Wednesday's Buffalo Roundtable live stream, Sheila Gunn Reid, Lise Merle, Sydney Fizzard, and Wyatt Claypool reacted to a B.C. NDP MLA condemning the Conservative-backed Drug Use Prevention Education in Schools Act.

The proposed act would require a mandatory "anti-drug" curriculum to be taught in all public and private schools in the province.

Speaking in the legislature on Monday, NDP MLA Stephanie Higginson said she finds certain language in the bill "deeply concerning". Higginson pointed to the curriculum explicitly discouraging drug use and 'promoting stigma' as a deterrent as troublesome.

"[It] is not only outdated, it reminds me of the 1980s era 'scared straight' that was in place when I was young," she said.

"It risks undermining the very outcomes it seeks to achieve ... we know from decades of research and experience that stigmatizing drug use does not prevent it," Higginson continued.

SHOCKING: NDP MLA Stephanie Higginson says she won’t support the Drug Use Prevention Education in Schools Act because she finds “explicitly discouraging drug use” to be “deeply concerning”.

I find it deeply concerning that this government can’t put their radical ideology aside… pic.twitter.com/B162qWL1cn

— Steve Kooner MLA (@SteveKooner) October 20, 2025

Sheila criticized the B.C. NDP for allowing open drug use in the province along with 'safe supply' policies that wreak havoc on communities.

"This is the state of the NDP. Like you go to Vancouver, and you're like 'this is a beautiful city', but there are parts of it that are absolutely taken over by drugs and the crime and social decay which follows," she said.

Wyatt also condemned the MLA's comments as drug use and addiction spiral out of control across B.C.

"You actually should be re-stigmatizing the use of drugs, you should actually mock people for thinking about using drugs or using them," he said.

"'Well that's mean.' Who cares, I think it's kind of mean to be using meth and crack on the side of the street and turning other people's cities into open asylums," Wyatt added.

Higginson has continued to face backlash from B.C. Conservative MLAs who are concerned about the drug epidemic and supporting the new drug use prevention act.