{"id":63364,"date":"2022-01-28T14:38:25","date_gmt":"2022-01-28T21:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/?p=63364"},"modified":"2022-02-07T02:10:58","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T09:10:58","slug":"albertas-expectations-from-new-minister-of-mental-health-and-addictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/2022\/01\/28\/albertas-expectations-from-new-minister-of-mental-health-and-addictions\/","title":{"rendered":"Alberta’s expectations from new minister of mental health and addictions"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A Safe Haven:<\/strong> The entrance to Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre, Calgary, is pictured on Nov. 12, 2021. The site provides a private, safe space where people can use their pre-obtained substances, primarily opioids, in a monitored setting. (Photo by Jason Jimenez\/The Press)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A<\/span>mid Alberta\u2019s opioid poisoning crisis, Canada has created mental health and addictions ministry \u2013 and some experts weigh in on what’s needed.<\/p>\n

C<\/span>arolyn Bennett was appointed the minister of mental health and addictions on October 26, 2021. The ministry plans to have negotiations with provinces and territories that have demanded the federal government take on a greater share of the cost of delivering accessible healthcare.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Alberta is on track to see its deadliest year for opioid deaths ever.<\/p>\n

Jennifer Jackson, a registered nurse specializing in substance abuse, said the new ministry is needed to have a national-level conversation about the overdose crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are opportunities in terms of legislation that they could change that could have a positive output for this situation,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Jackson promoted the importance of having a community working towards the same goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to expand supervised consumption services and make them more available,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cIt\u2019s not a long-term solution, but like community-based mental health services, it\u2019s something we need immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, one of the busiest supervised consumption services in Canada closed. Known as ARCHES, the Lethbridge organization lost funding \u2013 and many, including Jackson, are calling for the site\u2019s reopening.<\/p>\n

Jackson then said that COVID-19 has greatly influenced the soaring overdose rates across the province.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think people can relate to the idea that the pandemic has increased stress for everyone,\u201d she said. \u201cIf somebody\u2019s already struggling to manage, then that extra stress makes it even more difficult \u2013 ultimately leading to more overdoses.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2020, according to the CDC, more Albertans died from overdose deaths than COVID-19.<\/a><\/p>\n

Rebecca Saah, a health sociologist from the University of Calgary, said it\u2019s also important to change the conversation and some of the nomenclature being used in the community.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of my pieces of advice is to start using substance use as opposed to abuse,\u201d she said. \u201cWe talk about elder abuse, animal abuse, and child abuse \u2013 but people using substances are not morally guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alberta Health Services said that two key strategies for addressing harmful, high-risk substance use include reducing stigma and harm reduction.<\/p>\n

A socio-economic review of supervised consumption sites in Alberta indicated that overdose deaths plummeted in communities, which were introduced to supervised consumption sites.<\/a><\/p>\n

Saah also said that although they might seem closely interlinked, she separates mental health from the overdose crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a public health scientist, I look at this the same way I would look at baby formula or lettuce, or any other substance that people are consuming that\u2019s leading to their illness or death,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s what\u2019s in the supply and the fact that the drugs are unregulated that\u2019s killing folks \u2013 not their pre-existing or underlying conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a long-term solution, but like community-based mental health services, it\u2019s something we need immediately. – Jennifer Jackson<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The Government of Canada said that almost four million Canadians aged 15 years and older reported that they used at least one illegal substance in the past year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes people a lot of first-hand experience until they can fully understand that making drugs illegal and policing people alone won\u2019t solve anything,\u201d said Saah.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to keep meeting people where they\u2019re at and help move them away from their addictions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid Alberta\u2019s opioid poisoning crisis, Canada has created mental health and addictions ministry \u2013 and some experts weigh in on what’s needed. Carolyn Bennett was appointed the minister of mental health and addictions on October [ READ MORE ]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":707,"featured_media":63417,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_ef_editorial_meta_text_assignment-slug":"S3 Alberta Opioid Crisis JJ","footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-63364","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/707"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63364"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64839,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63364\/revisions\/64839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/saitjournalism.ca\/thepress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}