Compassionate Intervention Act
The Alberta government is going full MAGA with its Compassionate Intervention Act, which will strip people who use drugs of due process and force them into months-long medical incarceration.
Alberta model
The privately owned, sole-sourced app that collects personal health information of people entering recovery programs was launched as ‘voluntary’ to comply with Alberta privacy laws. But eight months later, it isn’t voluntary anymore.
Alberta model
Edmonton EMS dispatches for opioid poisoning have hit their highest weekly count ever. While other provincial governments issue warnings, Alberta has been hiding a key mortality report that could have informed solutions on the ground.
Freedom of Information
In a rare instance, University of Calgary officials were caught destroying records that should have been made available through freedom of information. The destroyed records — obtained from Calgary Police — included apparent plans for dismantling the May 9 pro-Palestine encampment protest.
Safe supply
Moms Stop the Harm co-founder Petra Schulz responds to the news that BC's miniscule safe supply pilot programs will end take-home prescriptions, throwing the lives of thousands into disarray and imminent danger.
Alberta model
The Alberta government has yet to release its proposed Compassionate Intervention Act but indicated in 2023 that the Act would extend existing legislation for forced abstinence of children to adults. Documents show that survival and other data are not tracked after children exit the system.
Alberta model
The Globe & Mail is reporting top-level allegations that Marshall Smith, former chief of staff to the Alberta premier, interfered in AHS procurement. If a forensic investigation proceeds, it must extend to the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction, which Smith oversaw from 2019 to 2022.
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The first legal decision favouring supervised consumption site users in Alberta since 2020 could turn the tide against five years of site closures.
Drug Data Decoded continued breaking important stories in Canadian drug policy through 2024, with intersections at policing, encampments and privatization of public services.
Documents reveal new details about the recovery community grant competition hurried through the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction in 2023. The Ministry continues to withhold details about the recipient previously hinted at by Drug Data Decoded.
Documents show the United Conservatives were working with city councillors intent on driving the closure of supervised consumption services in Red Deer as early as 2022.
Guest post: Police are invested in the sale, procurement & consumption of sex work & certain drugs. Their publicly funded communications reflect this – an opportunity for media.
Unannounced by the Alberta government, all signs point to the controversial UCP-aligned recovery organization bagging a lucrative contract for Calgary's new centre.
Calgary city council took a defiant stance against the Alberta government's attempt to have council do its dirty work. For once, the trash took itself out in Alberta.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Local advocates say supervised consumption services must be expanded and improved with drug inhalation capacity. A rally will be held on Tuesday, October 29.
Drug User Liberation Front co-founders Eris Nyx and Jeremy Kalicum held a press conference with their lawyers on October 15, 2024 to correct disinformation about the compassion club and provide a legal update.
Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy Vancouver, Migrant Students United UBC, Climate Justice UBC, UBC Social Justice Centre, CUPE 2278 Executive Committee and eight more student-led groups speak out.
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The Premier's office was in contact with the University of Calgary President's office during the peaceful May 9 Palestine solidarity demonstration. But after months of work, the events surrounding the violent deployment of riot police remain shrouded in secrecy.
An app that privatizes health information of recovery patients is aimed at Alberta shelters, correctional facilities and supervised consumption sites. In one case, data from the app that showed a negative outcome was suppressed, but the government still publicly reported it.