Is EPS’s new facility the best solution to help with substance use?

In the next few months, the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) is planning to open facilities called Integrated Stabilization Centres (ISC) to temporarily detain publicly intoxicated individuals. Using power granted by the Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis Act, these ISCs will be able to hold people for up to 24 hours, but without pressing criminal charges for those detained. Even if the ISCs are a more progressive move, will they hold up in the end? There are concerns that this is a short-term, performative solution to a systemic problem. 

To make Edmonton a safer city, the Downtown Revitalization Coalition has advocated for these ISC facilities to be put in place. While addressing substance use in Edmonton, the goal is to reduce the harm done to these individuals. In the grand scheme of things, pressing charges against the publicly intoxicated is likely to do no good. So, reducing or eliminating these charges is a step in the right direction.

According to Police Chief Warren Driechel, these facilities will offer an alternative to placing the publicly intoxicated into jail cells. Additionally, the Ministry of Mental Health and Addiction stated that these facilities will connect those detained with “recovery Alberta clinical staff, social workers, and recovery coaches.” These changes do signal a positive shift in the police’s treatment of substance use, but it doesn’t look like an end-all, be-all solution.  

The creation of a facility that doesn’t press charges is a good thing. Substance use is often worsened when punished. EPS shows that by not pressing charges and offering services of recovery that they are making an effort to minimize the role the police have in the cycle of substance use. However, does this framework of detainment actually address the systemic issues surrounding substance use? Most likely, it’s only targeting the surface of the real issue.  

Albertans are dealing with major cost-of-living pressures, a factor that often leads people to substance use. Rather than looking at the larger picture of concerns that fuel substance use, the provincial government and by extension the EPS are only really paying attention when it disturbs the social order. As Ginetta Salvalaggio, a professor at the University of Alberta, states, these centres seem like a reaction to public discomfort with homelessness and substance use. All in all, these centres feel like a band-aid solution.

Although the ISC’s, according to Driechel, will “determine what are the next steps” for detainees are, there is also a lack of funding for these next steps. Pre- and post-recovery centres are underfunded, according to Edmonton Mayor Andrew Knack. Many substance users feel that harm-reduction measures are too out of reach. The provincial government continues to cut these measures, as Salvalaggio points out. If the EPS and the provincial government really want to help those struggling with substance use, they should also support programs that help with recovery and housing, especially since many people using substances live in poverty.  

Most of those who live in Edmonton are well aware of the ongoing opioid epidemic and homelessness crisis going on here. Often, these can lead to thinking patterns that encourage the stigmatization of those suffering from substance use. The government, however, has the power and resources to help alleviate substance use issues. We shouldn’t invest in solutions that temporarily hide away when someone is at their worst, rather we should invest in solutions that pull people out of substance abuse and prevent them from happening in the first place.