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What does the Alberta govt's flawed report on Supervised Consumption Sites (SCSs) represent?
Some thoughts that I shared during a presentation this week.
#ableg #abpoli @AHS_media @YourAlberta
Some thoughts that I shared during a presentation this week.
#ableg #abpoli @AHS_media @YourAlberta
SCSs are places of safety for the people who use drugs. Supporting people's health & social needs are their primary aim.
They also structurally and socially intersect with crime in ways that are strategically leveraged by ideological opponents of SCSs and #HarmReduction. 2/
They also structurally and socially intersect with crime in ways that are strategically leveraged by ideological opponents of SCSs and #HarmReduction. 2/
A key function of SCSs is to reduce the harms perpetuated by the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act. People using SCSs have been criminalized by the CDSA.
The CDSA generates the need for SCSs and, ironically, the possibility for their existence through a medical exemption. 3/
The CDSA generates the need for SCSs and, ironically, the possibility for their existence through a medical exemption. 3/
The application process for establishing a SCS problematically reinforces the idea that a natural linkage exists between SCSs and crime.
I know of no other health intervention that is required to justify its existence through crime rates. 4/
I know of no other health intervention that is required to justify its existence through crime rates. 4/
This is leveraged by politicians who have powerful incentives to reframe social problems into narratives about crime.
Alberta's govt is using the SCS report to strategically construct harm reduction as a crime problem because it opens up major opportunities for governance. 5/
Alberta's govt is using the SCS report to strategically construct harm reduction as a crime problem because it opens up major opportunities for governance. 5/
We can see this in the rhetoric connecting SCSs to crime in Alberta that extends well before the SCS report.
Prior to becoming premier, Kenney states his views on SCSs. After making this statement, his govt would appoint a panel to review SCSs led by a former police chief. 6/
Prior to becoming premier, Kenney states his views on SCSs. After making this statement, his govt would appoint a panel to review SCSs led by a former police chief. 6/
The former police chief reveals his views on SCSs, including his false belief that they increase criminal activity and social disorder.
Just over 2 years after proclaiming these views, he was appointed by Kenney as the chair of a panel tasked with reviewing SCSs in Alberta. 7/
Just over 2 years after proclaiming these views, he was appointed by Kenney as the chair of a panel tasked with reviewing SCSs in Alberta. 7/
The methods used by the review panel are extremely poor, as I've reviewed elsewhere.
This was not a mistake or an oversight.
The panel and govt sacrificed scientific objectivity and rigour for other motivations. 8/ https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-020-00456-2
This was not a mistake or an oversight.
The panel and govt sacrificed scientific objectivity and rigour for other motivations. 8/ https://harmreductionjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12954-020-00456-2
When âgoverning through crimeâ, the fear of crime matters more than actual crime.
The aim is to deploy discourses of crime and fear to redefine social problems, exercise authority, and legitimate interventions that have other motivations. 9/
The aim is to deploy discourses of crime and fear to redefine social problems, exercise authority, and legitimate interventions that have other motivations. 9/
Using the SCS report, Albertaâs govt was reconstituting harm reduction and SCSs as crime and policing issues to manufacture an opportunity to deploy their so-called Alberta Model of addiction treatment and other political projects. 10/ https://www.theprogressreport.ca/the_alberta_model_who_benefits_from_the_alberta_government_s_shift_away_from_harm_reduction_to_abstinence_only_recovery
So long as the SCS report contributed to the narrative that SCSs and the people who use & support them are a 'crime problem' or a threat to community values and safety, then the report successfully achieved its objectives.
Science and facts impede such objectives. 11/
Science and facts impede such objectives. 11/
There are political benefits for people working in opposition to SCSs & harm reduction to frame them as crime problems to be managed.
The consequences are enormous.
In 2020, 1,316 people died in Alberta from drug poisoning. 228 people died in the first 2 months of 2021. 12/
The consequences are enormous.
In 2020, 1,316 people died in Alberta from drug poisoning. 228 people died in the first 2 months of 2021. 12/
Rigorous research consistently challenges claims that SCSs have special powers to magically produce crime. No credible evidence says that SCSs increase crime.
Alberta's govt must retract this dangerous report & reinvest in SCSs. Lives depend on it. 13/ https://www.drugpolicy.ca/open-letter-calling-on-the-alberta-government-to-retract-supervised-consumption-site-study/
Alberta's govt must retract this dangerous report & reinvest in SCSs. Lives depend on it. 13/ https://www.drugpolicy.ca/open-letter-calling-on-the-alberta-government-to-retract-supervised-consumption-site-study/
My methodological critique of Alberta's SCS report has now been read more times than the actual report. I hope this is a sign of mitigating the report's harms, which has always been my intention.
Those who participated in the report should be held accountable. End/
Those who participated in the report should be held accountable. End/
