Letter: Drugs are inevitable, so too should be safety

By Letter to the Editor on January 13, 2026.

Dear editor,

Re: Lack of Funding for Safelink Decision

“Given SafeLink’s previous initiatives – particularly the distribution of pamphlets advising youth on how to use dangerous illicit drugs – there was not enough comfort or alignment with provincial priorities to approve the funding request,” stated Nathaniel Dueck, spokesperson for the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction.

My take as a person with 40 years of working with children and youth is youth are prone to experimenting with drugs such as alcohol and other such toxins.

‘Dangerous illicit drugs’ are more dangerous because they are not regulated like the drug of alcohol. But alas, the comfort or alignment with provincial priorities does not fit with helping an agency support our unhoused in cold weather.

So, what are the provincial priorities? ‘Prioritizing Recovery over Harm Reduction: The government has explicitly steered policy away from a primary reliance on harm reduction.

The model emphasizes abstinence as the ultimate goal, in contrast to models that prioritize reducing immediate harms without necessarily requiring an end to substance use.’ This is confusing to me.

If they support recovery, they understand the reality of people/youth using ‘dangerous, illicit drugs.’ Here’s the kicker – dead people don’t recover.

How do we keep them safe long enough to get to recovery you might ask? Gee – makes me think of harm reduction strategies once again, strategies that can save a life similar to ‘we hope you don’t get in an accident however wear your seatbelt just in case.’

Also makes me think we stigmatize all unhoused as substance users because what does funding a centre that provides a warm shelter have to do with the priorities?

Also makes me wonder, ‘Is someone who uses substances and is unhoused’ less worthy of a warm place to sit, to thaw out their extremities in a resource centre that just might help with wound healing as well.

How do those who Nathaniel Dueck speaks for sleep at night when I can’t? Perhaps their glass of bourbon helps.

Kym Porter

Medicine Hat

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