Episode
Why are drug deaths rising in Edmonton, but falling elsewhere?
- Podcast
- The Decibel
- Published
- May 11, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1562
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://www.theglobeandmail.com/podcasts/the-decibel/
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-decibel-3326560/episodes/why-are-drug-deaths-rising-in-edmonton-but-falling-elsewhere/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-decibel-3326560/why-are-drug-deaths-rising-in-edmonton-but-falling-elsewhere.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
Canada has seen a decline in deaths related to drug overdose the past two years. But the reality at the local level is a little more complicated. In some cities, like Edmonton, this rate is increasing. The city saw its deadliest year for drug deaths in 2025. One of the Globe’s health reporters, Alanna Smith was in Alberta to figure out what’s going on. She’s here to share what she learned about why the situation in Edmonton is so bad, and the pushback against harm reduction policies, like safe consumption sites.