ALBERTA COULD LEAD IN TREATING ADDICTIONS
The rest of Canada should follow our example, says Carson Mcpherson.
As the managing director of one of our country’s leading addiction-treatment programs and a longtime addiction specialist, I’ve seen first-hand the devastating effect of Canada’s addiction crisis. Addiction, like any other disease, requires a multipronged strategy with a broad range of options to help people get well.
While various provincial governments grapple with this crisis, I feel compelled to weigh in on the provincial initiatives and ongoing dialogue unfolding in Alberta related to this government’s mental health and addiction strategy.
From where I stand, the Alberta government has been clear on their strategy for mental health and addiction. Like too many Canadian provinces, Alberta has been plagued with an addiction-care system that has faced a lack of funding for treatment spaces and largely drifted away from a focus on recovery in favour of a single-pillar approach almost solely focused on harm reduction.
Alberta has tapped in to an element that has been missing from this public dialogue — an emphasis on the full continuum of care, touted by Alberta’s premier and associate minister of Mental Health and Addiction.
The new “Alberta Model” is increasing funded access to high-quality care, including 4,000 new treatment and recovery spaces and $140 million directed entirely to mental health and addiction — a major investment in the face of an opioid crisis — with an ultimate goal of a fully-funded continuum of care, including prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery.
Quite frankly, Alberta’s approach puts them well on their way to being a leader in addiction treatment and services across Canada. In no other province in this country, has such focus and stress been put on ensuring people and their families struggling with addiction can recover.
Regardless of your argument, people need to be able to access care and get into treatment, at any point in their journey and in whatever method works for them.
So let’s keep this issue in perspective: Supervised consumption sites can and should have a place in a full continuum of care when operated properly and embraced by the community.
But the disease of addiction is complex and pathways toward and through recovery look different for almost every individual on that journey. It may include detox, medically assisted detox, opioid dependency clinics, treatment with a focus on Indigenous culture and spirituality, and the list goes on.
Instead of continuing this endless dialogue on one part of the continuum, or the merits of each type of treatment, the entire province needs to rise up, hand-in-hand with people trying to overcome addiction and give them every opportunity to work through a full pathway to recovery.
It’s the compassionate thing to do.
The steps that the government has taken so far are unprecedented — demonstrating the consideration and understanding of the disease that have long been lacking in the political sphere.
The reality is that this is not going to happen overnight.
Like many others, I look forward to seeing the review of the existing supervised consumption sites in Alberta and how the province intends to move forward on their commitments, with hope that it means relief and support for many people struggling with addiction.
I believe Alberta, if the right steps are taken, could be the first province to establish a fully funded, recovery-oriented system of care. Getting there will require stakeholders and communities from every corner of the province to come together respectfully, rationally and progressively to support recovery for all Albertans.
The rest of Canada should be watching, as Alberta’s new, improved, and fully funded system unfolds.
Supervised consumption sites can and should have a place.