IN NEWS
META (Facebook) is now blocking Canadian news information and articles from being shared on their platform. We have decided to create this website page as a depository of articles and news information that MSTH and our allies are involved in.
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April 19, 2024 - Arlene Last-Kolb is the mother of a man who died from fentanyl poisoning. Manitoba's mobile OPS by Sunshine House report on the success of the program. We need more services for people who use drugs.
"there is a piece of me and my family that is missing. these deaths are preventable" A powerful message
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March 7, 2024 - Traci Letts – who volunteers with the advocacy group Moms Stop the Harm – worries that misinformation and moralizing about the nature of addiction are barriers that no court decision can overturn. “The people dying are the children of lawyers and doctors. They’re hockey players or baseball players. They’re the parents that take their kids to hockey and baseball. They’re family men. They’re women trying to make it through the day, working two jobs.”
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February 29, 2024 - Euan Thomson, leads Each+Every, a national coalition of businesses seeking more inclusive communities ready to respond to the drug poisoning crisis. 2023 will unfortunately be a record-breaking year. Think back to other crises that have affected the world - AIDS deaths in 1995 was a total of 1764 in Canada. We will have that number in ALBERTA in one year not in the country! Where is the sense of urgency?
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February 28, 2024 - A Toxic Year Part 3 - Lisa's story: One of so many lost as opioids claim Indigenous lives at alarming rate Lisa Red Young Man had a giving spirit, struggled with addictions in her adulthood
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February 27, 2024 - A Toxic Year Part 2 - Jordan's story: 'No parent should have to bury their kid' 15-year-old girl's father struggled to get her help, break generational cycle
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February 26, 2024 - Fatality inquiry into remand death. An inquiry is underway in the death of a man (TJ McConnell) at the Edmonton Remand Centre last year. Amanda Anderson reports. - Lana Greene, MSTH Member
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February 26, 2024 - 'Scared I’m gonna lose my life': Fatality inquiry begins into death of Edmonton remand inmate who sought addictions, mental health help. "There are a lot of inmates sitting in the remand centre right now on regular units who have several risk factors for suicide" - Lana Greene, MSTH Member
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February 26, 2024 - Mental health worker says team overloaded at time of inmate death in Edmonton jail. Family, advocates of man (TJ McConnell) who died at Edmonton's Remand Centre calling for reforms - Lana Greene, MSTH Member
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February 26, 2024 - Video and Article - A fatality inquiry got underway Monday morning into the death of a 23-year-old man who died by suicide in a solitary cell at the Edmonton Remand Centre. Timothy McConnell, better known as TJ, took his life in January 2021 - Lana Greene, MSTH Member
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February 26, 2024 - A Toxic Year Part 1 - Stephen's story: 'He might be here today if he would have had a safer supply' An active, curious toddler. A smart, shy child. An adult who struggled with addiction - Brenda Gaunt, MSTH Member
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February 26, 2024 - Statement on Death of Timothy McConnell (“TJ”) at Edmonton Remand - Professor Ben Perrin
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February 23, 2024 - Take 15 minutes to watch The National’s exceptional story about The Alberta Model. In the face of a record number of toxic drug deaths, Alberta is moving away from harm reduction and doubling down on treatment and recovery. The National’s Ian Hanomansing breaks down the Alberta model and why the province thinks it's the best way to solve the drug crisis Sarah Auger - MSTH member
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February 23, 2024 - More than 4 Albertans died — each and every day — from opioids in 2023 These 4 represent the loss from just a single day last year, the deadliest on record - Brenda Gaunt, MSTH member
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February 22, 2024 - A Toxic Year Part 1 - Stephen Wakeman was an active, curious toddler and a smart, shy child. He was also an adult who struggled with addiction. His parents say he knew the risks of street drugs but his addiction was too strong - Brenda Gaunt, MSTH member
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February 22, 2024 - Research Paper The impact of an unsanctioned compassion club on non-fatal overdose - Jeremy Kalicum
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February 22, 2024 - What’s Wrong With Rehab? The lack of accountability in the “Alberta Model” for dealing with drug use - Euan Thomson
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February 20, 2024 - Edmonton detox unit moving; supervised consumption site future unknown. Petra Schulz says there is a need for more beds. She was recently trying to find detox space for someone in the province - Petra Schulz, MSTH Co-Founder
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February 18, 2024 - Red Deer, AB., city council has made history as the first in Canada voting to close an overdose prevention site - Euan Thomson
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February 15, 2024 - Red Deer, AB city council hears passionate support for overdose prevention site. Those who want it shut down also get heard at Thursday public hearing - Wendy Little, MSTH member
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February 13, 2024 - Alberta drug deaths soar to highest level ever recorded
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February 13, 2024 - Advocates say proposed public space bylaw targets city's vulnerable in Edmonton, AB. - Petra Schulz, MSTH Co-Founder
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February 7, 2024 - Latest Harm Reduction Proposals Good But More Needed. Leslie McBain of Moms Stop the Harm says more needs to be done to get people into the programs being offered and to expand services - Leslie McBain, MSTH Co-Founder
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January 31, 2024 - Sturko doesn’t understand the point of the three year pilot, which is to prevent people in possession of a small amount of drugs from entering the criminal justice system. “It’s primarily to keep people who use drugs out of the criminal justice system,” McBain said. “It doesn’t actually have an impact on the number of deaths in B.C.” - Leslie McBain - MSTH Co-Founder
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January 24, 2024 - British Columbia's outgoing chief coroner says it's been "extremely disappointing" to see overdose deaths turned into "political fodder" for critics of harm reduction and decriminalization as the province hits another record toll.
Lisa Lapointe announced Wednesday that 2,511 people died of suspected illicit drug poisoning last year, the highest annual number recorded. Close to 14,000 people have died since the province declared a public health emergency in April 2016, Lapointe told a news conference.
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January 22, 2024 - Samantha Ginter, member of the Moms Stop The Harm network, shared how she lost her partner and father of her children in 2021 to what she calls “failed drug policies”.
She says she currently has family members and friends who use the OPS and believes it is an important tool to keep people safe and families together while connecting people to services they may not otherwise have access to.
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January 15, 2024 - Comment: Prohibition is killing 20 Canadians every day. The reality is that the prohibition of drugs ensures organized crime is the sole provider of toxic drugs - John and Jennifer Hedican (MSTH Members)