'We're not doing safe supply in Alberta': Premier rules out drug policy change after record overdoses in April

One-on-one with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith Alberta Premier Danielle Smith discusses why there needs to be ‘equivalency’ in terms of federal funding for net-zero emission goals.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith says the province will not implement safe supply programs as a way of tackling the opioid crisis after a record month for overdoses in April.

Smith told CTV’s Power Play host Vassy Kapelos in an interview on Wednesday that Alberta will be focusing on a recovery-based approach and suggested safe supply programs like the one in British Columbia are ineffective at reducing overdose deaths.

“We're not doing safe supply in Alberta,” Smith said.

New data from the province shows April was the deadliest month on record for overdoses in Alberta, with 179 people dying of drug poisoning that month, a more than 45 per cent increase from the same month last year.

According to the data, 93 per cent of drug poisoning deaths in Alberta in 2023 have been related to fentanyl.

Smith said as opposed to safe supply, Alberta is focusing on building about a dozen recovery communities, with one recently completed that has just started taking patients.

“There's no such thing as a safe supply of fentanyl,” Smith said. “We believe that the solution is to get people off of opioids to get their lives back.”

When pressed on why she’s solely focused on recovery programs, as opposed to creating those in tandem with safe supply using a two-pronged approach, Smith said her government is looking into a legislative framework to order people into treatment.

“(Safe supply) is not our approach in Alberta,” Smith said. “We don't give up on people. We don't believe that enabling people in serious opioid addiction is the pathway.”

“We believe that recovery is not only possible, it's actually the most common outcome,” she added. “And we just need to make sure that people have access to treatment.”

Several experts say safe supply is an effective way and a key intervention of reducing overdose deaths.

Watch Smith’s interview with Kapelos in the player at the top of this article.