By Alexandra Noad, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series that looks at the opioid crisis in southern Alberta through an Indigenous lens. In April 2023 the Blood Tribe declared a State of Emergency due to opioids. According to Alberta’s Opioid Response Surveillance Report: First Nations People in Alberta, published in June 2021, First Nations people represented 22 per cent of all opioid poisoning deaths in the first six months of 2020. Which was an increase from 14 per cent in 2016. While many may have the perception drug abuse only happens in city limits, the Blood Tribe’s declaration of a State of Emergency would prove otherwise. Leslie Wells, Blood Tribe’s opioid response coordinator, says the opioid response started back in 2014. She…
Register
