麻豆影视

Skip to main content

'We're not doing safe supply in Alberta': Premier rules out drug policy change after record overdoses in April

Share

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the province will not implement safe supply programs as a way of tackling the opioid crisis after a record month for overdoses in April.

Smith told CTV鈥檚 Power Play host Vassy Kapelos in an interview on Wednesday that Alberta will be focusing on a recovery-based approach and suggested safe supply programs like the one in British Columbia are ineffective at reducing overdose deaths.

鈥淲e're not doing safe supply in Alberta,鈥 Smith said.

New data from the province shows April was the deadliest month on record for overdoses in Alberta, with 179 people dying of drug poisoning that month, a more than 45 per cent increase from the same month last year.

According to the data, 93 per cent of drug poisoning deaths in Alberta in 2023 have been related to fentanyl.

Smith said as opposed to safe supply, Alberta is focusing on building about a dozen recovery communities, with one recently completed that has just started taking patients.

鈥淭here's no such thing as a safe supply of fentanyl,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淲e believe that the solution is to get people off of opioids to get their lives back.鈥

When pressed on why she鈥檚 solely focused on recovery programs, as opposed to creating those in tandem with safe supply using a two-pronged approach, Smith said her government is looking into a legislative framework to order people into treatment.

鈥(Safe supply) is not our approach in Alberta,鈥 Smith said. 鈥淲e don't give up on people. We don't believe that enabling people in serious opioid addiction is the pathway.鈥

鈥淲e believe that recovery is not only possible, it's actually the most common outcome,鈥 she added. 鈥淎nd we just need to make sure that people have access to treatment.鈥

say safe supply is an effective way and a key intervention of reducing overdose deaths.

Watch Smith鈥檚 interview with Kapelos in the player at the top of this article.

IN DEPTH

Opinion

opinion

opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike

When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.

A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.

Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Mont茅r茅gie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.

A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.

Local Spotlight

Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.

Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.

An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.

They say a dog is a man鈥檚 best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

Stay Connected