Alberta front-line workers warn of drug overdoses rising on and off the streets

A father's hope turned to pain in less than 24 hours after his son entered a residential drug treatment facility and fatally overdosed.

"Our son died in a place that was supposed to be safe," Ray Corbiere told The Canadian Press. His son Joshua was 25 years old.

"He was trying to change his life. He wanted to kick this addiction."

The young man died while seeking treatment at Thorpe Recovery Centre, east of Edmonton. Corbiere said he checked in just before 11 a.m. on Aug. 18 last year and by the next morning he was dead.

"He was all alone and he was my baby," said Corbiere, holding back tears.

Corbiere said he has been fighting to get answers from Thorpe about his son's death, but he has uncovered little about where the drugs came from and what happened when Joshua was found unresponsive.

"There has to be more or better help out there to get these kids through this because they deserve to live."

Thorpe did not respond to requests for comment.

The Alberta government also did not respond to requests for comment and statistics related to deaths in public and private treatment facilities.

But those working on the front line said there has been an increase in overdoses — fatal and non-fatal — in these settings, as well as in homeless shelters and the streets.

Dr. Bonnie Larson, a physician and University of Calgary professor, said studies suggest between 40 and 60 per cent of individuals return to drug use after attending inpatient treatment programs for substance use.

A highly toxic drug supply, changes to social supports, decreased tolerance and pressure to abstain from using substances also increase the risk of injury or death, Larson said.

"We're corralling them into a death trap," said Larson. "You're being steeped in a tea of abstinence and you're not given any other options."

Provincial data show drug overdose deaths in Alberta hit record highs during the COVID-19 pandemic.