Alberta model - Drug Data Decoded

A darkened room with an L-shaped row of clinical-looking seated booths in front of mirrors. Above each booth is a vent, and beside each one is a sharps disposal bin.

News

Drug inhalation is being choked off in Alberta

Demand continues to increase dramatically for clean drug inhalation supplies, but procurement data obtained by Drug Data Decoded show the supply is being throttled back. Is the shortfall helping to drive Alberta cities to new overdose heights?

A group of around fifty people pose with signs declaring their support for overdose prevention sites, in a forested field.

News

Recovery Alberta is choking off inhalation supplies

Demand continues to increase dramatically for clean drug inhalation supplies, but procurement records show the supply is being reduced. Is the shortfall in supplies helping to drive new overdose records in Alberta cities?

A man in a two-tone tartan suit jacket and heavily gelled hair speaks into a microphone. Another man lurks in the background.

Compassionate Intervention Act

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.

A woman is in mid-sentence behind a podium that reads "Alberta Recovery Model" and in front of a screen reading "Recovery Alberta."

Alberta model

"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.

A woman wearing mask and gloves stares intently at an inverted vial and syringe she is holding in front of her face.

Alberta model

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.

Alberta model

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.

A middle-aged man looks neutrally toward but slightly off-camera, with neatly combed hair and wearing fine clothing.

Alberta model

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.

A series of four clean supervised consumption site booths are arrayed along a wall in a small room.

News

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.

Seven people smile at the camera and at one another while clapping in a row in front of a red ribbon being cut.

Alberta model

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.

Two people stand outside a closed door of a portable Atco trailer in the winter.

Alberta model

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.

Single-story building in front of a parking lot, with a gazebo and sitting space out front.

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.

Around 25 people stand with signs on the steps of Calgary City Hall in the early morning.

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.