I wonder where all the “forced treatment” people are now? Probably out drinking... Alcohol causes more overall harm in Canada than any other drug, including non-prescription opioids and tobacco. Alcohol is associated with about 280 hospitalizations EVERY DAY. Opioids? About 84. Alcohol costs Canada roughly $20 BILLION a year in health care, lost productivity and criminal justice costs, and nearly 18% of Canadians aged 15+ will meet the criteria for alcohol-use disorder at some point in their lives. The difference? We sell alcohol in stores, we advertise it, we celebrate with it, and we normalize it. Fentanyl's harms generate outrage because the consequences of addiction are often visible on our streets. Alcohol's harms are so normalized we barely recognize them as drug-related harms at all. Legal doesn't mean harmless, socially acceptable doesn't mean safe, and addiction doesn't become more or less legitimate depending on which drug caused it. cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent/alco…

Remember when Alberta shut down supervised consumption sites in the name of “recovery.”??? Meanwhile, Calgary firefighters responded to more than 4,700 substance-related calls in 2025, up more than 60% from the year before. This is what people need to understand: Closing harm reduction services doesn't make overdoses disappear, it moves them into alleys, sidewalks, transit, coffee shop bathrooms and ultimately onto firefighters, paramedics and ER rooms. Supervised consumption sites manage overdoses where people are already using drugs, with trained staff and naloxone immediately available. The overdoses don't disappear, they just get transferred somewhere else. That's not solving the crisis, it's relocating it. cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/c…

I knew this conversation was coming, and this is different from what I'm talking about below 👇 To every politician who keeps campaigning on “mandatory forced treatment” as the solution to addiction and homelessness: you can't simply strip people of their rights because they're poor, homeless, using drugs, or struggling with mental health. How about we put that same political energy into building voluntary treatment people can actually access, supportive recovery services, mental-health care, and affordable housing? Then make recovery easier to access. You want fewer people homeless? Build housing. You want fewer people dying? Keep them alive long enough to have another chance. We don't have a shortage of punishment. We have a shortage of services, treatment and housing. cbc.ca/news/canada/british-c…