Alberta to eliminate due process for people who use drugs

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.

"Coercion at its finest": Ministry mandating My Recovery Plan participation for recovery service access

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.

Edmonton setting opioid poisoning records while Province quietly hid medical examiner review

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.

University of Calgary destroyed records related to May 9 police violence against protesters

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.

BC government caves to safe-supply disinformation campaign

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.

Survival of Alberta children forced into drug withdrawal is not monitored

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.

Marshall Smith allegations should prompt full procurement investigation

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.

Injunction stalls Red Deer overdose prevention site rollback

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: Top investigations of 2024

Drug Data Decoded continued breaking important stories in Canadian drug policy through 2024, with intersections at policing, encampments and privatization of public services.

Province refuses to disclose Calgary Recovery Community contract awarded in 2023

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.

UCP coordinated overdose prevention site closure with Red Deer city councillor

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.

Police drive violence in the unregulated drug and sex work markets

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.

Alberta model

Was Last Door granted Calgary Recovery Community?

Unannounced by the Alberta government, all signs point to the controversial UCP-aligned recovery organization bagging a lucrative contract for Calgary's new centre.

Alberta model

Calgary city council just says no

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.

News

Advocates rally against closure of supervised consumption service in Calgary

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.

Safe supply

DULF's legal update

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.

drug user liberation

13 Student-led Groups Call for Compassion Clubs Now & DULF Charges To Be Dropped

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.

Freedom of Information

Alberta's fiefdom of information

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.

Alberta model

Private recovery app targeting shelters, prisons & consumption sites may distort outcome data

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.

News

Private org has control of Alberta recovery patients' health info

My Recovery Plan was implemented to evaluate and manage substance use treatment waitlists across Alberta. Documents reveal how it denies patients informed consent and control of their personal health information.

News

“Appreciate the assist”: Oilers pass the puck as City and Police purge unhoused from homes

Documents reveal Edmonton Oilers executives pressure the City and Police to clear unhoused people from near Oilers property, weaponizing decampments and water station relocation to address safety concerns.

racial capitalism

Prohibition fuels drug war violence: Regulation can undercut it if done right

Intervention and regulation of the drug supply is indeed the only way out of British Columbia’s forever toxic drug emergency. But last week, the BC NDP rejected another high-level recommendation to create frameworks for non-medicalized access to opioids and other drugs.

Why is Vincent Lam distorting drug deaths?

The author and addiction physician continues disguising reactionary talking points as medical fact through Globe and Mail op-eds. In his latest, he misrepresents death rates in Timmins, belittles harm reduction and appears to cozy up to Poilievre's abstinence-focused drug strategy. In his latest of many Globe and Mail

drug user liberation

BCAPOM: You call them "kickbacks," we call them our fair share

The BC Association of People on Opiate Maintenance, Surrey Union of Drug Users, Care Not Cops, Canadian Students for Sensible Drug Policy Vancouver Chapter & Crackdown respond to recent coverage on pharmacy kickbacks, and the repercussions for them and the people they work with.