HEARTS Alberta
@heartsalberta.bsky.social
We’re a collective of Alberta advocates committed to compassion, inclusion, and justice. Guided by HEARTS: Harm Reduction, Equity, Advocacy, Respect, Trust, and Support, we stand with people who use substances and who deserve dignity and care.
Telling that the smallest harm reduction approach requires unending studies but the government can expand an unproven approach targeting the province’s most vulnerable without any arms length evaluation
Vancouver Sun@vancouversun.bsky.social · last yr.Does involuntary care work? Three B.C. residents share their personal stories vancouversun.com/health/does-...
"I would sooner have my son here doing regulated drugs than have him dead," Arlene Last-Kolb I echo my friend’s words 💔 www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
2 Manitobans lost loved ones to overdoses. Now they want an alternative to toxic street drugs | CBC News
Two Manitoba women are calling for access to a safer supply of pharmaceutical-grade drugs, giving people who use substances an alternative to the illicit supply.
cbc.ca
Where are people who are unhoused supposed to use? People don’t have a place to live, they don’t have safe places to use and the are criminalized by Winnipeg police. This disproportionately affects indigenous people, women and gender diverse people. This causes further harm and deaths.
De Facto Journalism Co-op@defactomedia.ca · last mo.3) Winnipeg's police chief claims a 10-day blitz against public drug use is “not criminalizing addiction” www.cbc.ca/news/canada/... Front-line services say they weren't consulted, & that officers are smashing harm-reduction supplies amid an HIV crisis www.endhomelessnesswinnipeg.ca/news/winnipe...
“As Ginetta Salvalaggio, a professor at the University of Alberta, states, these centres seem like a reaction to public discomfort with homelessness and substance use. All in all, these centres feel like a band-aid solution.”
Elaine Hyshka@ehyshka.bsky.social · last mo.These dramatic increases in ambulance calls in #ON are a stark reminder that consumption site closures put lives at risk and add strain EMS and ERs. EMS call ⬆️ for non-fatal ODs Thunder Bay ⬆️ 20% Hamilton ⬆️ 199% Toronto ⬆️ 115 % Ottawa ⬆️ 52% www.cbc.ca/news/investi...
Overdose calls to paramedics on the rise Ontario, CBC analysis shows | CBC Embedded-Only
Non-fatal opioid overdose calls are on the rise in four Ontario cities — nearly tripling in Hamilton in the first five months of 2026. Researchers and social workers suggest the toxic drug supply and ...
cbc.ca
This was also shown in Red Deer AB, and will be in Calgary and Lethbridge. Lives are at risk and fewer ambulances are ready for other calls. Everyone should care about that, evenbf they do not care about people who use drugs.
Overdose calls to paramedics on the rise in several Ontario cities, CBC analysis shows. Opioid overdose calls nearly tripled in Hamilton in early 2026 compared to same period of 2025, by Ariel Tozman www.cbc.ca/news/investi... via @cbcnews.ca #ToxicDrugCrisis
Overdose calls to paramedics on the rise Ontario, CBC analysis shows | CBC Embedded-Only
Non-fatal opioid overdose calls are on the rise in four Ontario cities — nearly tripling in Hamilton in the first five months of 2026. Researchers and social workers suggest the toxic drug supply and ...
cbc.ca
Governments on one side demonize some addictions while promoting others, especially gambling and alcohol (serving alcohol at 6 AM in Alberta is now permitted). Bad health policy and all levels.
1 out of every 5 minutes of Canadian sports broadcasting is now an ad for gambling. Games have become casinos, preying on young men. Has governing lost its way? @thestar.com
Answer me this. To what degree should governments be in the gambling business? How much is TOO much?
André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · last mo.Gambling a growing problem among teens and young men. The government's addiction to gambling revenue comes at a cost, by @drgorfinkel.bsky.social www.thestar.com/opinion/star... via @thestar.com
rabble.ca/health/in-pr... "CSC’s own data points to a troubling trend. In January 2025, 3,447 people were enrolled in OAT across federal prisons. By March 2026, that number had declined to 2,565 — a drop of nearly 900. This drop began in the months following the October 2025 policy shift."
In prison, toxic drug deaths are rising. Access to treatment is shrinking
Recent policy changes mean that treatment for addiction is becoming less accessible to those who are incarcerated.
rabble.ca
www.pivotlegal.org/a_guide_for_...
Responding to Police in Health Service Settings: Know Your Rights, Protect Your Clients
Responding to Police in Health Service Settings: Know Your Rights, Protect Your Clients is a practical resource for health service providers in British Columbia seeking to reduce police interference i...
pivotlegal.org
Substance use prevention is not about drugs. It’s about the factors that may increase the risk of substance use, early education and intervention, using community based rather than punitive approaches. Great to see these guidelines. anchoringchange.ca
Anchoring Change | Substance Use Prevention in Canada
Anchoring Change is a national initiative and pan-Canadian standard designed to transform school-based substance use prevention, education, and intervention.
anchoringchange.ca
People will die as a result of conservative policies.
The Breakdown AB@thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 2mo agoRick Wilson confirmed at today’s presser that the UCP would be closing the Supervised Consumption Site at the Sheldon Chumir June 30th. But says they’ll have super valuable street teams in the area. He just can’t remember what they’re called. Triage Liason Physicians perhaps?
“The homeless are not Other. They are Us. They are rights bearers no less entitled than any other Canadian citizens to the full benefit and protection of the Charter,” [the ruling] stated. powerful story by @ericwickham.ca
PressProgress@pressprogress.ca · 2mo agoIf a judge who's ex-military can recognize that homeless people have rights, why not Ontario's premier? What Doug Ford should know about encampment residents: pressprogress.ca/doug-ford-ki...
If a judge who's ex-military can recognize that homeless people have rights, why not Ontario's premier? What Doug Ford should know about encampment residents: pressprogress.ca/doug-ford-ki...
What Doug Ford Should Know About Encampment Residents
If a judge who is ex-military can recognize that homeless people have rights, why not Ontario's premier?
pressprogress.ca
It's murder. It's exactly the same as doctors murdering miscarrying women in TX and GA. They manipulate the medical system to force it and the weak doctors who inhabit it, to kill the "undesirables".
Not surprised one bit
HEARTS Alberta@heartsalberta.bsky.social · 2mo ago“This legislation does not address any of those root causes; instead, it creates a new coercive system enforced by police and courts, the very institutions where First Nations people face the most entrenched racism and documented discrimination.” Same ⚠️ in #AB! www.ctvnews.ca/regina/artic...
It's part of attempts to destroy the disabled by limiting their access to REAL primaries, their willingness to speak to or see providers. It limits providers willingness to see anyone disabled. Once you force the disabled to use cartel supplies, you can criminalize them publicly many times over.
“As a physician, I consider SCS a gold-star public health intervention. It does exactly what it is designed to do with 100 per cent efficacy. Despite such success in saving lives, the UCP has been intent on shuttering Safeworks.” Dr. Bonnie Larsen.
Friends of Medicare@friendsofmedicare.bsky.social · 2mo ago💯! Dr. Bonnie Larson: "As a physician, I consider SCS a gold-star public health intervention. It does exactly what it is designed to do with 100 per cent efficacy. Despite such success in saving lives, the UCP has been intent on shuttering Safeworks." calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...
💯! Dr. Bonnie Larson: "As a physician, I consider SCS a gold-star public health intervention. It does exactly what it is designed to do with 100 per cent efficacy. Despite such success in saving lives, the UCP has been intent on shuttering Safeworks." calgaryherald.com/opinion/colu...
Opinion: Former Safeworks client fights closure, saying facility as crucial now as in his past
Opinion:
calgaryherald.com
The only MAP program in AB had to shut down when federal SUAP funding ran out. The current #AB government does not believe in or fund effective #publichealth interventions, as evidenced by the closure of consumption services across the province. #abpoli
Tommy Brothers@tdbrothers.bsky.social · 2mo agoWe have a new paper in @sajamersa.bsky.social evaluating the “scattered-site” managed alcohol program (MAP) in Halifax, Nova Scotia It was first launched during COVID- combining a central supported building + outreach to individual apartments- and sustained 1/ journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
We have a new paper in @sajamersa.bsky.social evaluating the “scattered-site” managed alcohol program (MAP) in Halifax, Nova Scotia It was first launched during COVID- combining a central supported building + outreach to individual apartments- and sustained 1/ journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...
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journals.sagepub.com
This needs to happen nationally! Every #defibrillator location needs a #naloxone kit. #cpr
Robin Lennox@robinlennoxmd.bsky.social · 2mo agoYesterday, I had the honour of tabling the Save a Life Act (Naloxone Registration and Public Access Act, 2026). This legislation would co-locate naloxone kits where publicly available automatic external debrillators (AEDs) are in our communities. #harmreduction #opioidpoisoning #health #onpoli
