Current Alberta Government Drug and Alcohol Treatment Strategies

Alberta is addressing mental health and addiction issues by improving drug and alcohol treatment facilities in Red Deer, Lethbridge, and Medicine Hat. The NDP government has increased overall funding and upgraded social detoxes to medically supervised clinics. The government is being guided by a province wide mental health and addiction review released at the beginning of 2016.

Opioid Crisis Response

Alberta has focused on five main objectives to address the opioid crisis the province is facing. A dedicated opioid emergency response commission is one of these objectives and it will oversee the achievement of the other four. Funding for community organizations to continue to educate Albertans will come through public awareness grants. Increased reporting and monitoring of events like overdose deaths, prescribing patterns, and the levels of use and misuse of opioid will give the commission baselines to work from and later refer to. Harm reduction in the form of safe consumption services, also known as safe injection sites, will greatly help decrease overdose deaths.

Community Based Medical Treatment

Safe Harbour Society in Red Deer, Alberta opened 20 new medically supported detox beds in November of 2017. The Alberta government allocated $1.6 million dollars to the society to support the existing clinic. It is a 20 bed clinic with five beds being extended stay to allow for overlap between detox and getting into residential treatment. Safe Harbour’s success is paving the way for new treatment facilities in Alberta. New opioid clinics and other treatment programs are planned for Calgary, Cardston, Edmonton, Fort McMurray,  Grande Prairie, and Sherwood Park.

Review Committee Recommendations

Valuing Mental Health: Report of the Alberta Mental Health Review Committee was released at the beginning of 2016. It outlined 32 recommendations following a review of the province’s mental health and addiction system. Since then, the Alberta NDP has said they took action on 6 priority recommendations. The Safe Harbour clinic in Red Deer was one of these recommendations. Lethbridge and Medicine Hat are also receiving funding for drug and alcohol treatment facility upgrades. The mental health and substance use budget for 2017 was $80 million, a 64% increase over 2016. “Of this, $15 million of new funding is dedicated specifically to address the recommendations in the Valuing Mental Health Review report.”

References:

• How Alberta hopes to help improve mental health and addictions services
• Valuing mental health: Next steps
• Valuing Mental Health: Report of the Alberta Mental Health Review Committee 2015
• Alberta’s Opioid Crisis Response
• Provincial support improves opioid treatment

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