In October 2022, Alberta underwent changes to their prescribing regulations, and safer supply was effectively banned in the province. These changes restrict prescribing to a small number of clinics and require witnessed dosing. These clinics were renamed Narcotic Transition Services.
This case study explored the implications of these prescribing regulation changes, examined the framing used to construct narratives about safer supply and the individuals who accessed these medications, and discussed the outcomes following the ban of safer supply in Alberta.
Also Available
- Paper: Safer supply and political interference in medical practice: Alberta's Narcotics Transition Service
- Paper: "COVID just kind of opened a can of whoop-ass": The rapid growth of safer supply prescribing during the pandemic documented through an environmental scan of addiction and harm reduction services in Canada
- Select Special Committee to Examine Safer Supply Final Report, June 2022
- BCCSU letter in response to the Select Special Committee to Examine Safer Supply's report
- Alberta government's Narcotic Transition Services memo
- Alberta's Community protection and opioid stewardship standards
- CBC article: Court grants woman interim injunction for exemption from Alberta opioid restrictions
- Calgary Herald article: Opinion: Alberta harm reduction nurses support safer supply to reduce deaths
- Globe and Mail article: Alberta’s opioid policy changes threaten physician autonomy
- GoFundMe for Ophelia's legal case
- Drug Data Decoded article: Ophelia Black v. the UCP
Presenters
Kate Colizza and Patty Wilson
