There is an entirely preventable obscenity that is happening across Canada and the USA. I am referring to the fact that 2021 saw a dramatic rise in drug overdoses due to an unsafe drug supply. For example, in 2020 and 2021, over 2500 individuals in Alberta, Canada, died as a result of using unsafe drugs. […]
In dealing with the problem of addiction, some state and provincial governments pursue the ideology that focusing on recovery is the best way to approach the problem of addicted constituents. Some governments, for example the current Conservative government (2019-2023) of the Canadian province of Alberta, persists in ignoring the benefits to addicted individuals of a […]
In a recent speech on International Overdose Awareness Day, the Alberta Associate Minister of Mental Health and Addictions said, “The majority of overdose deaths take place at home, often when someone is using alone.” What is interesting to me is that this statement was essentially off the cuff, and clearly the Associate Minister did not […]
Hello Everyone, My name is Tim Parker and I have just retired from 37 years of teaching at the Augustana Campus of the University of Alberta. I have two goals for this blog. The first is to introduce you to my book on what addiction is and how it changes the brain. I have spent […]