Drug-related deaths fall in Alberta after province adopts recovery-based program over ‘safe supply’
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Data revealed that deaths by drugs in Alberta dropped to 72 in May after reaching a peak of 185 in March 2023.
(LifeSiteNews) – Deaths related to opioid and other drug overdoses in the Canadian province of Alberta have fallen to their lowest levels in years after the Conservative government began to focus on helping addicts via a recovery-based approach instead of the Liberal-minded, so-called “safe-supply” method.
According to data released by the United Conservative Party (UCP) government via its “Alberta substance use surveillance system,” which was updated in August, there was a 55 percent decrease in opioid-related deaths in May 2024 compared with May 2023.
The data revealed that deaths by deadly drugs fell to 72 in May, which was the lowest reported since March 2020 when 71 deaths were reported.
At their peak, opioid-related deaths spiked at 185 in March 2023. Since that time, deaths have been on the decline.
Dan Williams, who serves as Alberta’s mental health and addictions minister, noted to the media in a recent statement that it is his view that a recovery-based approach to dealing and helping addicts is the right way to go as opposed to giving out free drugs, which is done in British Columbia.
He said that, in his view, he is “cautiously optimistic” that the declining deaths are due to focusing on a recovery-based model when dealing with the rampant abuse of illicit drugs.
Williams said that the UCP government believes that for people suffering from “the disease of addiction, recovery is possible.”
“We are turning words into action and giving people an opportunity to pursue recovery,” he said.
The Alberta government’s recovery-based approach specifically focuses on prevention and the treatment of addicts as well as a long-term recovery support model.
The federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claims their “safer supply” program is good because it is “providing prescribed medications as a safer alternative to the toxic illegal drug supply to people who are at high risk of overdose.”
full story at https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/drug-related-deaths-fall-in-alberta-after-province-adopts-recovery-based-program-over-safe-supply/
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