Rejecting Addiction and Restoring Hope at the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre

When we discuss politics, we rarely discuss absolute goods, often it is sadly a matter of choosing between the lesser of two evils.

But at a campaign announcement during the Alberta election, Premier Danielle Smith took to the stage surrounded by people whose lives have been profoundly affected by addiction and committed to do something truly just, tackling addiction head-on and rejecting the, as MLA Mike Ellis put it, palliative care, and addiction-enabling trend of government-provided “safe” drugs.

There is no such thing as a safe hard drug, and the free drug distribution policies that are popular in progressive circles have resulted in more drugs on the streets, continued devastating addiction, and rampant crime and squalor in many cities. This is particularly prevalent around the so-called safe injection and safe supply access sites.

Seeing a government that views addicts as human beings instead of statistics is refreshing, and it isn’t just talk. They are delivering on commitments to help people reclaim their lives. The UCP has removed the costs for recovery treatment, which used to be $40 a day, and they have also increased available recovery beds to an unprecedented level in the province.

Dr. Dean Vause, Executive Director of the Alberta Adolescent Recovery Centre (AARC), has decades of experience in adolescent addiction, and he is one of the incredible professionals helping Alberta youths struggling with addiction reclaim their lives.

Many of those who were on stage with Danielle Smith sharing their testimonies at the UCP addiction recovery press conference are graduates from his program. To learn more about how Alberta is saying no to addiction and yes to recovery, I joined Dr. Vause for an exclusive HelpNotHarm.ca interview.

We also spoke with the incredible Ciara Brady, AARC’s Community Outreach Specialist, whose son recovered from an addiction that nearly took his life thanks to Dr. Vause’s program. After AARC saved her son’s life, she decided she had to get involved and help families dealing with addiction as she once did. She shared her story and gave us a tour of the incredible facilities available to adolescents at AARC.

It was incredible to see how many people that we spoke with at this facility that either received treatment themselves or had a family member overcome addiction thanks to AARC before joining their team with the hope of giving back. It is also comforting to know that we have a government that supports youth and families seeking to reclaim lives with a spirit of hope, rather than feeding the vicious and destructive cycle of addiction.

Rebel News will continue to cover the deadly “safe-drug supply” rhetoric of reckless uncaring governments across Canada, and we will also work to share stories of hope that occur when communities choose recovery instead. All of these stories can be found at HelpNotHarm.ca.