Feb. 22, 2021
Documentary puts Alberta鈥檚 response to overdose crisis under a microscope
A panel discussion showcasing a Calgary-produced documentary will examine Alberta鈥檚 response to the opioid crisis, which has claimed the lives of more than , and question why more isn鈥檛 being done to stop the harm and save lives.
Harm: Alberta鈥檚 Preventable Overdose Crisis will screen at a hosted by 聽and the 鈥檚 (CSM) . A panel discussion following the screening will explore the spectrum of care required to turn the tide on the overdose crisis.
鈥淭his is an issue that affects every community in Alberta,鈥 says co-filmmaker Dr. Josh Ng-Kamstra, MD, 鈥渁nd it's not just the individual that dies of an overdose who is affected聽鈥 there is a devastating personal impact on the entire family and community.鈥
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the overdose crisis is聽 escalating.
In 2020, to accidental drug poisoning, setting a grim record for the most overdose deaths in one year since the onset of the opioid epidemic.
In order to stop harm and save lives, a full spectrum of addictions services is needed, says Dr. Bonnie Larson, MD, who will speak at the Feb. 25 event. 聽聽
鈥淲e need prevention and education, safe withdrawal, medication-assisted treatment, supervised consumption, residential and day treatment options, and long-term recovery and relapse-prevention supports for patients and families,鈥 says Larson, a clinical assistant professor at the CSM and lead for Street CCRED.聽
Other provinces are building the appropriate systems to provide these types of addiction services, and Alberta is being left behind, Larson adds.聽聽聽聽聽聽
Co-filmmaker Dr. Jason Lajoie, PhD, lost his brother Lucus to an accidental fentanyl overdose in 2014. He says there is a desperate need for government to support and fund harm reduction measures that will better protect those at risk of overdose.聽 聽
Harm reduction聽refers to interventions that seek to reduce the harms associated with substance use.聽Although supported by evidence, these interventions can be controversial, and are not always supported by government.
In 2020, Alberta鈥檚 provincial government withdrew funding for North America鈥檚 busiest supervised consumption site, ARCHES, in the city of Lethbridge. Without funding, the facility closed its doors on Aug. 31. Funding for the province鈥檚 two-year-old injectable opioid agonist treatment (iOAT) program is , with no plans to renew. 聽
Lajoie says seeing the government moving away from these measures is frustrating.
鈥淚n 2014, I鈥檇 never even heard the word fentanyl 鈥 we were at the beginning stages of the overdose crisis at that point,鈥 he says. 鈥淲e鈥檝e now had six years to learn and act since my brother鈥檚 death, yet things are getting worse, not better.鈥 聽
Shanell Twan, an outreach worker and board member of the Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs, says Alberta must enact evidence-supported policies, even if they are not always popular.
鈥淭he reality is, no one鈥檚 ideology should be as important as another person鈥檚 life,鈥 says Twan, who is featured in the film and will speak at the Feb. 25 event.聽聽
In order to turn the tide on this crisis, serious changes in addiction treatment need to occur, she says. 聽
鈥淲e don鈥檛 have the ability to waste any more time. The reality is that people are dying and there鈥檚 not a reprieve in sight because of how our current drug policy exists.鈥
The Feb. 25 panel discussion聽鈥 featuring the filmmakers, medical professionals, drug users, and other experts 聽鈥 will explore how political polarization, stigmatization and moral judgment have come together to allow this crisis to claim an increasingly large number of victims, while also discussing what can be done to reverse course.
Bonnie Larson聽is a clinical assistant professor in the and a member of the O鈥橞rien Institute for Public Health at the Cumming School of Medicine.
Register 聽for Harm: Alberta鈥檚 Preventable Overdose Crisis聽鈥 How We Got Here and How We Get Out, Feb. 25, 2 to 3 p.m.聽