Wild thread - what the star cites as “perplexing” is quite simple. Deaths are down as people learn harm reduction, look out for each other and have better access to naloxone. Overdoses are up due to unregulated killer supply and the closure of safe consumption sites.
Toronto Star@thestar.com · 2d agoFirst responders like VanDyke, emergency physicians and front-line workers are seeing a perplexing trend in Toronto: while overall opioid overdose deaths have dropped in the last two years, non-fatal opioid-related EMS calls are spiking this year to some of the highest levels since 2021.
The closure of consumption sites in ON contributes to these spikes. Using in a safe environment reduces risk (people can go low and slow) and many overdoses are managed without a trip to the ER. Closures in Red Deer AB led to spikes in ambulance calls. Politicians don’t seem to care.
André Picard @picardonhealth @picardonhealth.bsky.social · 2d agoOpioid deaths are down but emergency calls are spiking. Inside the mystery leaving Ontario paramedics ‘flying blind.’ A street drug that defies traditional overdose responses is adding to the strain on hospitals, by @omarmosleh.bsky.social www.thestar.com/news/gta/opi... via @thestar.com
Story is deeply moving. Makes me think of my son Danny, who died alone before Naloxone became available. 💔 www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
FIRST PERSON | As a paramedic, I responded to countless overdoses. Then my best friend died from one | CBC News
When Cam Fenton's best friend died, it made him question how someone who was a support worker at a supervised injection site ended up as one of thousands of people who die of opioid overdoses every ye...
cbc.ca
Great thread - this is also happening all across 🇨🇦. Harm reduction policy done half-assed, did not go far enough, not funded enough, projects that are working are not scaled up enough to include everyone.Then they cry, “it’s not working” and return to old policies that have been failing for 50 yrs
Michael Hobbes@michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 4d agoIt was inevitable that reactionary centrists would turn against harm reduction and call for a return to mass incarceration
Plus, even in the current system . especially in the states but here too, the rich ALREADY have way too much influence in elections !!
Charles Smith@profsmithsask.bsky.social · last wk.The rich have ALWAYS argued that they deserve more influence in the public sphere because they are rich (it is the basis of our entire political system!). Without strong organizations defending working people--unions and left parties--this type of rhetoric reinforces authoritarianism.
In this News Brief, "Why US Media Has Evoked Israel's "Right to Exist" 1,001 Times vs Only 6 For Palestine," we examine the Orwellian phrase "right to exist," why it only applies to Israel, what role it serves, and why Palestinians are never said to have such a right.
News Brief: Why US Media Has Evoked Israel's "Right to Exist" 1,001 Times vs Only 6 For Palestine
In this News Brief, we dissect the Orwellian phrase "right to exist," why it exclusively applies to Israel, what purpose it serves, and why Palestinians are never said to have such a right.
soundcloud.com
Well said Nate!
The Breakdown AB@thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 2mo agoOn last nights open mic we got into Supervised Consumption Sites and the opioid crisis. And unfortunately, we had someone show up making some pretty gross comments. But bring that to our open mics and it will get dealt with! #abpoli #ableg #cdnpoli
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...
Sask party’s “compassionate” intervention act, as Tammy points out in this article, is plowing ahead with this legislation with no plans in place for the regulation, accountability or oversight for this treatment. Even Alberta had that. To be worse than AB is pretty bad substack.com/@tammyrobert...
Saskatchewan’s Involuntary Treatment Experiment: No Standards, No Oversight, No Accountability
We’re the only province experimenting with forcing patients into a treatment we’ve never licensed or regulated.
substack.com
NEW The Alberta government’s fight to close the two busiest supervised consumption sites is in the bottom of the ninth. The pinch hitter it calls to bat? A freshly minted PhD in economics nobody’s heard of. drugdatadecoded.ca/albertas-exp...
Alberta's only expert witness against consumption sites was an American economist in Italy. Here's how that went.
As provinces like Manitoba resume harm reduction as usual, the Alberta government's coup against supervised consumption appears to be crumbling underfoot with no medical or public health experts comin...
drugdatadecoded.ca
Supervised consumption sites not only save lives and build community. They also keep that extra burden off of first responders like fire fighters.
karen ward@kwardvancouver.bsky.social · 3mo ago"a surge that coincided with the closure of Prairie Harm Reduction's supervised drug consumption site." DON'T do two years of research to figure out this puzzler OPEN a Drug Consumption Space NOW #skpoli www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
They will deny it was related but in Saskatoon there was an *immediate* increase in overdoses in public places when PHR closed its doors.
HEARTS Alberta@heartsalberta.bsky.social · 3mo agoRather than preventing and responding to drug poisoning in safe clean healthcare facilities with trained staff, we let people go down in public places, sending out fire crews and ambulances, too often too late. All in the name of ideology, because it’s neither science nor good economics.
SASKATCHEWAN
Doctors for Safer Drug Policy@dsdp.ca · 3mo ago“Government will swear up and down they’ve got more beds, a new phone line, whatever. They tell us all the things they’re doing. And I tell them that whatever it is that they’re doing, it’s not stopping the deaths.” www.timescolonist.com/islander/an-...
Same story, three provinces, same cause: Each one signed on to the Alberta Recovery Model in 2024. Why do we accept eugenic public policy in 2026?
"a surge that coincided with the closure of Prairie Harm Reduction's supervised drug consumption site." DON'T do two years of research to figure out this puzzler OPEN a Drug Consumption Space NOW #skpoli www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Saskatoon firefighters responded to 'staggering' 680 overdoses in April | CBC News
The new high mark of 680 surpasses the 509 responses in March of 2025 and happened the same month that Prairie Harm Reduction closed for good due to financial troubles. The numbers represent a more th...
cbc.ca
They cant even provide treatment to those who want it and this evil "compassionate intervention" is going to take the scant resources away from those who actually want it. Nevermind the father knows best bullshit this is pedaling. The Sask Party wants addicts to die. This is how.
Dr James on a bicycle, psychologist, cycologist 🇨🇦@jamesbicycle.bsky.social · 3mo agoSaskatchewan is going to jail people who are addicted and force treatment on them. Their name for this is truly 1984 dystopian: "Compassionate Intervention Assessment Centre" www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Hey Saskatchewan this post is predicting our future #skpoli ,
Clayton Tucker@claytontuckertx.com · 3mo agoWhat are Texans actually gaining from data centers? Less water, higher power bills, more pollution, less farm land, harmed livestock, less public funds, few local jobs. Big Tech takes our resources, and our communities get left behind.
Not a surprise that Sask govt uses a flawed and conflict ridden study to follow through with their ideological policies. This govt has no clue how to help people, nor do they much care
HRNA_AIIRM@hrna.bsky.social · 3mo agoFlawed overdose prevention study cited by Sask. government 'dangerous,' critics say 'The government marked its own homework,' nurse says of Alberta study www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
As cons & selfish business owners celebrate this closure, things continue to worsen. People will use & overdose right in front of your business. PHR not only cared about drug users & making sure they don’t die, they also did amazing work to try to lower highest in nation HIV rates.That’s gone now
Laurence Thompson@thompsonlg.bsky.social · 3mo ago“‘Saskatoon is safer now that Prairie Harm Reduction’s ‘safe’ consumption site is finally shut down’” - Saskatoon Conservative MP Redekopp. Here’s how that looks: to April 19 “Saskatoon fire crews responded to 301 overdose calls…up from 165 for [all] March, & from 178 for [all] February.”
Governments use this fraudulent study, masquerading as research, to cut live saving services that should be publicly funded. They fabricate evidence and we arrange the funerals. www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Overdose prevention study cited by Sask. government 'dangerous' and 'flawed,' critics say | CBC News
A study that has been widely criticized as flawed, biased and misleading is being cited by the Saskatchewan government as a reason there's no urgency to replace the services Prairie Harm Reduction pro...
cbc.ca
Can’t stress enough how backward this is.If you take away someone’s drugs, what happens?They go into withdrawal which will require an ambulance & ER trip costing money & services.Or they go in search of more, which could involve criminal activity or putting themselves in dangerous situations.
Private jet: funded ✅ Life-saving supervised consumption services: defunded ❌ What are we doing here folks? www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Ontario government buys $28.9M private jet for Doug Ford's use | CBC News
The provincial government has purchased a pre-owned private jet for $28.9 million to be used by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
cbc.ca
Great episode
The Breakdown AB@thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 4mo agoSpecial episode! On March 10th, CoRE published a paper that the UCP then used to justify shuttering Supervised Consumption Sites. But there's some big problems with that paper & how it was spun. We sat down with 3 experts to get to the bottom of it! youtu.be/mRtvTHcDR6g
Sask gov’t: let’s shut down harm reduction services, demonize safe supply, fear monger the public regarding its use, and then force people into treatment against their will Meanwhile, scientific research : ⬇️
Corey Ranger@nurseranger.bsky.social · 4mo agoNew 🚨 "The Victoria SAFER Initiative: A community-based prescribed safer supply program using fentanyl formulations in Victoria, BC" "Our findings demonstrate that prescribed fentanyl options assisted in reducing reliance on the unregulated drug supply." www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
“harm reduction work is political. As the Government of Saskatchewan recently pushed through forced addictions treatment with neither adequate evidence nor medical support, their eagerness to defund Prairie Harm Reduction is hardly deniable” read more ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/rloewenw...
More than it Ever Cost: Farewell to Prairie Harm Reduction
Prairie Harm Reduction, a nonprofit organization that served people at risk and affected by HIV and Hepatitis C in Saskatoon, closed its doors last week.
open.substack.com
Alberta Won’t Detain Itself Out of a Drug Crisis “Because the victims are largely invisible to those in power, the UCP has no problem systematically ripping apart the public health resources that are their first line of defence.” Feature and in “Forward Weekly” archive.forwardweekly.ca?issue=03
For people celebrating this closure, take note: PWUD don’t simply quit & go away because you’ve taken away their safe space.Nothing changes except now their only options are the stairwell of your building, the sidewalk in front of your business, the park, etc. www.ckom.com/2026/04/10/s...
‘Significant change’ for community after Prairie Harm closure: Saskatoon mayor
Saskatoon Mayor Cynthia Block said the city will see a change now that Prairie Harm Reduction has closed its doors, which "marks significant change" for the city's community "more deeply over time."
ckom.com