Demand outpacing resources at Calgary Drug Treatment Court

An opioid crisis is driving a rising demand for the Calgary Drug Treatment Court, the program’s CEO says.

Arla Liska said for about the past two years, the program has not been able to meet demand.

“There, for some time now, has been significantly more demand than we can meet,” said Liska.

“And we know that because we’re constantly receiving requests when we do have the wait list closed, and we also have a flood of applications come through when we do open the wait list.”

In a Calgary Police Service briefing note released by Alberta Liberal Leader David Swann Wednesday, the service states that in discussions with the Calgary Drug Treatment Court (CDTC), they have indicated that “they do not have the resourcing required to support the volume of offenders who qualify for the diversion programming.”

The briefing note revealed that Calgary police responded to 223 fentanyl-related overdose calls in 2016, and that police laid 111 fentanyl-related charges in the first 10 months of 2016, compared to 108 charges over all of 2015 and 11 in 2014.

Liska said it’s “hard to over-state the importance” of the drug treatment court as police respond to a rise in property crime linked to addiction. The CEO said a “significant percentage” of people who go through the program have addictions to opioids.

“I believe that the opiate crisis that we’re seeing is a significant part of the increase in demand, and the need to intervene with people to deal with the level of risk for their life is critical,” she said.

The drug treatment court, which combines court intervention and treatment services, currently serves 25 people. The program is “the only alternative to incarceration for non-violent, drugaddicted offenders who are facing significant jail time,” said Liska.

“It creates an opportunity for people who are quite entrenched in a criminal lifestyle to make substantial change in their lives.”

In a news conference to announce the hiring of additional prosecutors to address court delays Thursday, Alberta Justice Minister Kathleen Ganley said she couldn’t speak specifically to the CPS briefing note.

“What I can tell you is that we’re absolutely committed to drug treatment courts. We think they area program that works. That’s why we want to ensure they are resourced in a way that they can one day be rolled out to more Albertans,” she said. Ganley said she is aware of the issue around resources in the drug treatment court.

“The province’s interest is in ensuring that this program can meet the needs of as many people as possible … that requires that we take a careful look at how many resources are necessary for each individual case so we are able to accommodate more people.”

I believe that the opiate crisis that we’re seeing is a significant part of the increase in demand.