Calgary recovery advocates say demand is up – even as drug-related deaths hit all-time high
The number of drug-related deaths is awful, says Earl Thiessen, but the demand for recovery should offer some hope.
"People are focusing on the overdoses, which obviously needs attention," said Thiessen, executive director of Oxford House.
"But the amount of people that are applying for treatment, pre-treatment, housing ... our pre-treatment housing is full constantly."
Numbers released last week showed 2,051 people died from drug overdoses in 2023 – the highest number ever recorded.
Of those, 1,867 were from opioids.
Thiessen says more support is still needed.
"What's really needed right now, in my opinion, is more medical detox," he said.
"The withdrawals are horrible from pharmaceuticals. I've experienced it and that's what's scaring a lot of people away from actually going into recovery."
Triston Big Bull is scheduled to enter treatment later this week for his own addiction.
He's now in pre-recovery housing, where he is getting regular support to stay sober.
He says there is a real awareness of the dangers of death on the street.
"It's just a cycle and it never ends and people are dying like left and right of me on the streets and the overdoses are happening," Big Bull said.
"It's crazy how it is."
He says he hopes others see his early success and make a change.
"It's never too late to try and change your life and want a better life," Big Bull said.
"Don't be too hard on yourself, you know, because a lot of people are really hard on themselves and it doesn't help the situation."
Thiessen agrees.
"You have to find a way to move forward, right? That's what it's all about," he said.
"I found mine, one through my reconnect to my Indigenous culture and two by forgiving those that harmed me. ... Not for them. For me."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
LIVE AT 11 EST Trudeau to announce temporary GST relief on select items heading into holidays
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will announce a two-month GST relief on select items heading into holidays to address affordability issues, sources confirm to CTV News.
'Ding-dong-ditch' prank leads to kidnapping, assault charges for Que. couple
A Saint-Sauveur couple was back in court on Wednesday, accused of attacking a teenager over a prank.
Border agency detained dozens of 'forced labour' cargo shipments. Now it's being sued
Canada's border agency says it has detained about 50 shipments of cargo over suspicions they were products of forced labour under rules introduced in 2020 — but only one was eventually determined to be in breach of the ban.
Estate sale Emily Carr painting bought for US$50 nets C$290,000 at Toronto auction
An Emily Carr painting that sold for US$50 at an estate sale has fetched C$290,000 at a Toronto auction.
Parole board reverses decision and will allow families of Paul Bernardo's victims to attend upcoming parole hearing in person
The families of the victims of Paul Bernardo will be allowed to attend the serial killer’s upcoming parole hearing in person, the Parole Board of Canada (PBC) says.
At UN climate talks, 'sewage' beer from Singapore highlights water scarcity and innovations
In the sprawling pavilion section of the United Nations climate talks, where countries, nonprofits and tech companies use big, flashy signs to get the attention of the thousands of people walking through, small aqua and purple beverage cans sit conspicuously on a counter at the Singapore display.
2 boys drowned and a deception that gripped the U.S.: Why the Susan Smith case is still intensely felt 30 years later
Inside Susan Smith’s car pulled from the bottom of a South Carolina lake in 1994 were the bodies of her two young boys, still strapped in their car seats, along with her wedding dress and photo album. Here's how the case unfolded.
Ontario man agrees to remove backyard hockey rink
A Markham hockey buff who built a massive backyard ice rink without permissions or permits has reluctantly agreed to remove the sprawling surface, following a years-long dispute with the city and his neighbours.
Genetic evidence backs up COVID-19 origin theory that pandemic started in seafood market
A group of researchers say they have more evidence to suggest the COVID-19 pandemic started in a Chinese seafood market where it spread from infected animals to humans. The evidence is laid out in a recent study published in Cell, a scientific journal, nearly five years after the first known COVID-19 outbreak.