PERFECT! –

Dec. 8, 2021 – Dr. Nathaniel Day, medical director for the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program administered by AHS, says people should realize that fentanyl and carfentanil contaminate most street drugs. 

That’s one reason Day applauds the funding of Sublocade in Alberta.

“This medication is going to revolutionize the way that addiction medicine is approached in Alberta,” Day said.

“If I were worried about my own child who was using opioids, I would want them to get on Sublocade,” he said. “The reason is that the medication’s there. It’s there for a month.

“There can’t be a bad day or a stressful day where they stop using the medication or they bounce back into use.”

To access Sublocade, a person first has to be diagnosed with opioid use disorder, Day said.

Once they’re given the drug in oral form to make sure they can tolerate it, a prescription for an injection can be written. Injections will be offered at clinics and participating pharmacies.

Lori Sigurdson, mental health and addictions critic for the Opposition NDP, said she hopes making Sublocade more available saves lives.

“But this announcement does not take away the need for the UCP to immediately implement more harm reduction services,” Sigurdson said Wednesday. 

more@CBC