🧵 SUPERVISED CONSUMPTION CLOSURES It’s been obvious for years that Alberta’s UCP government wants the sites closed. So what’s stopped them? Why didn’t they just do it after Kenney said he wouldn’t “help addicts inject poison” in 2018? They needed plausible legitimacy. 1/

The government is taking credit for the fact that Albertans are sicker and doctors are working harder, and calling it a 'gift' to the profession. ABs shouldn't be fooled by their song and dance... Even worse: govt is spending MORE per pt in CSFs and private delivery! 4/4

Alberta has a serious disinformation problem, its government weaponizing “experts” willing to cash in credentials for power. Last year, that tactic — and those people — were leveraged to help close supervised consumption sites across Ontario. drugdatadecoded.ca/inaccurate-d...

I wrote you a piece about the concept of moral injury and why we need the voices of the prophets during times when concepts like "ethical compass" and "basic decency" elude us as a collective. Among other things, it explains moral injury and how to heal from it, which, you know, might be useful.

political determinants of health www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2025/01/24/a...

We have tried absolutely nothing and it hasn't worked so now the only obvious solution here is to blame others from other places.

Hey it’s me, a racialized person born in Alberta to an immigrant parent, with trans and queer friends, saying that the UCP does not get to determine who belongs here. All of us, and the Albertans yet to come, deserve to be here. And we must stand with Indigenous people to honour treaty promises.

the only motivation for encampment "sweeps" is cruelty migrationnetwork.un.org/policy-repos...

SCOOP(s) The Playbook for closing supervised consumption sites. Far too many ledes in this story, and it’s already in two parts. (One was even a CBC headline this morning.) Please read & share - this one cost dozens of hours and $378 in FOIP fees! drugdatadecoded.ca/we-can-help-...

From the DM's... A very well placed source is telling us that at least one policing agency in Alberta is compiling wishlists of individuals they immediately want to detain for forced treatment as soon as the facility is built. #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

read the first peer-reviewed research paper using data P.O.W.E.R. collected and analyzed via @ijdrugpolicy.bsky.social: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... #drugsky #harmreduction @pivotlegalsociety.bsky.social @hracollective.bsky.social @harmreductionintl.bsky.social

We need stricter gun laws and universal, single payer, mental health care.

Alberta's new two-tier legislation encourages a private health insurance market for services covered under the Canada Health Act. It's a decisive shift towards U.S. health care based on greed+ profit-taking, not “European” health care @alonghurst.bsky.social www.policyalternatives.ca/news-researc...

“Bill 11 brings two-tier, American-style health care to Alberta. It will mean that Albertans will experience a system where those who have money will be able to pay to have access to quicker care & the rest of us will be left waiting longer or go without," said FOM's Chris Gallaway.

Decriminalization worked. B.C. killed it anyway The province’s drug decriminalization experiment lowered arrests and reduced harm—but it failed a different political test breachmedia.ca/decriminaliz...

“The only people, frankly, benefiting from the current model are organized crime and some of these private residential treatment centres who are charging exorbitant amounts to families... without any evidence that those are effective," Read @thetyee.ca full article here: thetyee.ca/News/2026/02...

First, the UCP said there was an “election integrity crisis," which led to a voter ID law. Then a “national unity crisis” → a sovereignty referendum. Now a “crisis of confidence” in the courts → defunding judges. There is no evidence of these crises. The UCP is trying to manufacture them.

TL;DR: Alberta would need 11 hospitals in Edmonton and Calgary to be resourced to the Canadian average. 1/6 🏥 Why is Alberta’s healthcare system under such strain? It’s not "management"—it’s a numbers problem 40 years in the making. Let’s look at the data. 🧵 #AbLeg #CdnHealth

Death of premature Alberta baby with measles was not made public for months, documents show. Province has highest rate of measles cases per capita, and has been under scrutiny for its response, by @alannasmith.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... via @theglobeandmail.com

“The gov't says they want people to recover and I have done that. I built my life piece by piece. Dragging this back to court and losing the privacy I have built, that is going to cause harm to my life, my reputation. I’m just confused honestly. Why this? Why now?” #ableg apple.news/ALAY20nxMTpu...

We bought a research van! @gsalvalaggio.bsky.social @kathryndong.bsky.social

The Alberta government built this right into its substance use policy, pushing people to upload their sensitive data to a sole-sourced app — without informed consent. Those data now belong to a company.

UCP support closing SCS for ideological reasons, not on evidence-based med research. SCS: ⬇️HIV/hepatitis ⬇️EMS/police ⬇️ER/🏥/ICU admits ⬇️morbidity & mortality ⬇️community crime ⬇️💉litter ⬆️MH, social work & HC access ⬆️addiction rehab center chances #abpoli #firetheucp www.cbc.ca/news/red-dee...

"By ending the decriminalization pilot, the province is failing to treat addiction as a public-health issue, not a criminal one, and is doubling down on policies that have already caused immense harm to First Nations." - @ubcic.bsky.social President Grand Chief Stewart Phillip

I regret B.C.’s decision to end its decriminalization pilot and am disappointed the province has not released an independent evaluation. When governments change course on life-and-death issues, Canadians deserve to see the evidence. See more 👇

SCOOP 🧵 The DORS app was supposed to keep people safe while using drugs at home. But in 4 years, it has activated just 51 ambulances. The app isn't used 41% of days. Meanwhile, the AB govt is dismantling the option that works: supervised consumption. 1/ drugdatadecoded.ca/overdose-app...

"The Blood Tribe stands with other Treaty Nations in firm opposition to this petition and all the efforts to undermine and erode the foundations of our Treaty relationship. Alberta cannot even ask a separation question without our consent." #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Toronto’s Supervised Consumption Sites and Local Crime url: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

Overall, Canadian police reported noticeably more drug-impaired and alcohol-impaired driving after 2018. But the growth seemed related mostly to enhanced enforcement and pandemic disruptions, rather than to legalized cannabis. theconversation.com/after-canada...

this American mom expresses how I felt after my son died, and why I am in advocacy. “My son died because I believed in systems that were never designed to protect him. Worse, those systems convinced me that punitive drug policies were keeping him safe when they were actively putting him at risk. “

Alberta man asks province’s top court to fast-track appeal of supervised drug-consumption site closure after his near-fatal overdose, by @alannasmith.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... via @theglobeandmail.com

Evidence from British Columbia shows decriminalisation reduced police interference with access to harm reduction — a key public health objective. Rolling it back didn’t correct failure. It reversed progress. Full study:

Many people still think of poverty as something that happens when people don’t work. But the reality is different: majority of people who live in poverty in Canada are working or live in families who work. @gillianpetit.bsky.social and my 2026 chart to watch www.theglobeandmail.com/business/eco...

On Friday, Drs. Kannin Osei-Tutu, Bukola Salami and Malinda Smith published an excellent opinion piece raising concerns about how this may impact Black professionals and all diverse Albertans when they need services or supports. www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/arti... #abpoli

“We know what that the direct results of these closures will be; more harm, more deaths, more pressure on our EMS system and more folks ending up in emergency rooms and hospital wards.” Read more: www.friendsofmedicare.org/supervised_c... Take Action: www.friendsofmedicare.org/isupportharm...

We think we've been good docs this year. Check out our Christmas Wishlist 👇

Stop the “NEW RECORD“ framing of this cataclysmic shitshow our selfish political choices have created for more than a century numbers numb don’t present it like hockey scores CONTEXT CONNECTIONS a future depends on it any future

It’s shocking to me that the intersection between involuntary treatment and colonialism is mostly a footnote within policy discussions.

I’m not a doctor, but feels like *actual* early intervention in frostbite cases would entail giving people warm shelter before amputation becomes necessary. Like, how much later than “amputation required” can intervention be?

by leaving people his government has deprived of housing the options of amputation, freezing to death, or incarceration, the increase in amputations indicates that Nixon is reducing homelessness without providing housing The purpose of a system is what it does www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

NEW Federal prisons are removing methadone and Suboxone opioid treatments, leaving only a patented once-per-month injection for prisoners. A large group of experts is raising serious concerns about harms to prisoners––and the corporate motivations behind the move. drugdatadecoded.ca/150-experts-...

We need more shelters and housing, amputations from frostbite are preventable. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

"The Minister’s office is suggesting that record frostbite amputation surgeries are somehow good news. In what world is amputating a finger or a foot an ‘improved outcome for vulnerable Albertans’!?” Read more: www.friendsofmedicare.org/record_frost...

Treaty 8 Grand Chief Trevor Mercredi had some strong words for Canada & Alberta... He made it clear that Treaty 8 will not just not support, they will actively oppose any new pipelines in the north without consultation & called for an immediate pause. #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

Acting Chief Teri Vellibrun with the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nations made her position very clear today! The AFCN stand with coastal First Nations and against everything in the pipeline MOU. #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli

"The expansion of coca cultivation is a direct driver of deforestation in the Andean valleys and the Colombian Amazon." - Learn more about how illegal coca cultivation and the drug war are driving climate and environmental disaster www.reformrestorerecover.org/evidence

"Ungoverning is not a neutral act. It is an ethical choice. It shifts power from the many to the few. It transforms rights into commodities. It turns need into opportunity for private profit. And it abandons the belief that a society should be judged by how it treats the vulnerable."