EDMONTON, Alberta (LifeSiteNews) — Another one of Canada’s largest provinces is closing so-called “supervised” hard drug injection sites and instead focusing solely on a “recovery” model to provide addicts with better and more compassionate care.
Late last week, Alberta Deputy Premier and Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Services Mike Ellis said that before the end of the year five remaining drug sites in the province will be closed for good.
“Drug consumption sites do not help people recover from addiction,” he commented. “Alberta is replacing them with services that connect people directly to treatment, stabilization and long-term recovery.”
Ellis noted that a recovery approach is about “helping people heal, restoring safety in our communities and making sure more Albertans get the care they need to rebuild their lives.”
Alberta is the second province in less than a week to announce the full closure of “supervised” drug sites.
As reported by LifeSiteNews last week, the provincial government of Ontario said it was ending support for all remaining “hard drug” consumption sites.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford admitted that allowing the legal drug dens was a “failed experiment.”
According to the Alberta government, current evidence shows that “connecting individuals to treatment and recovery services leads to better long-term outcomes than systems that leave people trapped in cycles of addiction.”
“Recent peer-reviewed research from the Canadian Centre of Recovery Excellence examining the closure of the Red Deer overdose prevention site found no increase in mortality, emergency department visits or ambulance calls among site users after the site closed. The study also found more individuals began opioid agonist treatment following the closure of the site,” the government stated.
Sites in Calgary and Lethbridge will be shut down by June, with sites in Edmonton and Grande Prairie expected to be shut down later.
According to Alberta Minister of Mental Health and Addiction Rick Wilson, “Drug consumption services do not break the cycle of addiction; they prolong it.”
“Recovery-oriented care and treatment help people reclaim their lives, rebuild relationships and restore wellness. Care will continue to be available at every step of a person’s recovery journey.”
Records show that the Liberal government under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent approximately $820 million from 2017 to 2022 on its Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy. However, even the Department of Health admitted in a 2023 report that the Liberals’ drug program only had “minimal” results.
As reported by LifeSiteNews in December, the Canadian Department of Health confirmed that taxpayer dollars were used to fund the purchase of drug paraphernalia such as crack pipes and other items permitted under the Liberal government’s “Safe Supply” program.
In 2024, the Liberal government was forced to end a three-year drug decriminalization experiment in British Columbia that allowed people to have small amounts of cocaine and other hard drugs on hand without charge. However, public complaints about social disorder went through the roof during the experiment.
As reported by LifeSiteNews, Canada’s Health Department recently admitted that a Trudeau-era trial of allowing hard drug consumption was a disaster and led to a complete breakdown of public order in some locations.
Official figures show that overdoses went up during the decriminalization trial, with 3,313 deaths over 15 months compared with 2,843 in the same time frame before drugs were temporarily legalized.
