In this episode, Mia Bare explores the social and structural stigma that surrounds getting help with drug addiction. She interviews a mother who lost her son to Alberta’s opioid poisoning crisis. She also speaks to David Lewry, the executive director and addictions counsellor at Freedom’s Path Recovery Society in Calgary. Albertans are increasingly dying of opioid drug poisoning. In 2016, 554 Albertans lost their lives. In 2023, the number of deaths climbed to 1,411 people within eight months, according to Alberta’s substance use surveillance data.
