Seeking a Sustainable
Approach
The Final Report of the Edmonton
Community Drug Strategy Task
Force
Recommendations:
That Community Services Committee
recommend to City Council:
1. That Administration identify, establish
and resource a sustainable
administrative program for the
ongoing work of the Edmonton
Community Drug Strategy
partnership.
2. That “Seeking a Sustainable
Approach -The Final Report of the
Edmonton Community Drug Strategy
Task Force” as outlined in
Attachment 1, of the June 25, 2007,
Edmonton Community Drug Strategy
report 2007CACD01 be received for
information.
That Bylaw 14096 be read a third
time.
Report
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Report Summary
This report provides an overview of
the accomplishments of the
Edmonton Community Drug Strategy
(ECDS) Task Force. Actions
recommended will ensure a
sustainable and integrated approach
to addressing the problems of
addictions among youth in Edmonton
and facilitating the continued
innovative work of the coalition of
partners.
Previous Council/Committee Action
At the September 27/28, 2005, City
Council meeting, the following motion
was passed:

Under Bylaw 14096 – Edmonton
Community Drug Strategy Task
Force, “The ECDS Task Force would
submit a final report to Council prior
to March 30, 2007, which would
include recommended action plans
for the three orders of government
and the Edmonton community to
ensure the ongoing sustainability of
the Edmonton Community Drug
Strategy.”
The ECDS Task Force final report
(Attachment 1) Seeking a
Sustainable Approach, provides an
overview of the accomplishments of
this collaborative effort.
The Edmonton Community Drug
Strategy is increasingly looked to as
a best practice model by other
communities interested in beginning
this kind of multi-partner, holistic
approach.
The advocacy initiative around a
Tolerant Shelter for youth dealing
with concurrent disorders is a good
example of the kind of innovative
approaches this kind of collaborative
effort can generate. So too does the
advocacy and prevention work of the
Edmonton Stop Marijuana Grow Ops
sub-committee, evident in their
brochure on identifying grow ops in
the community.
The award-winning Parent Resource
Toolkit, in 10 languages, also speaks
to the kind of needed materials that
emerge from a collective initiative
that responds to grassroots needs.
This resource provides parents with
concrete connections and
information about talking with their
children about drugs
PAGE
ROUTING – Community Services Committee, City Council | DELEGATION – K. Barnhart/K. Gunn/G. Nelson/B. McKim
WRITTEN BY – K. Gunn | June 25, 2007 – Edmonton Community Drug Strategy 2007CACD01
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Seeking a Sustainable Approach
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The Edmonton Community Drug
Strategy partners have learned three
key lessons from this collaborative
process of engaging people around
the issue of addictions and youth.
First, it is a complex issue, requiring
long-term commitment and effort.
Secondly, we need to adhere to a
four pillar, holistic approach,
recognizing that prevention, harm
reduction, treatment and
enforcement are all vital to success.
Thirdly, we need to build intercoalition connections in order to
streamline our leadership and
grassroots engagement and identify
common strategic priorities.
Almost $400,000 in granted funds
have been received from Health
Canada over this four-year period,
with an additional $90,000 recently
confirmed for the April 2007 - March
2008 year. The coalition has also
relied heavily on significant in-kind
partner support from Capital Health,
AADAC, the two School Boards,
Edmonton Police and the City of
Edmonton.
The search for a sustainable
platform for the Drug Strategy
dovetails recent initiatives of City
Administration to promote and
support a more integrated approach
among senior community agency
leaders. In May 2007, City
Administration and Safedmonton
began the process of creating a new
senior level Leadership Council that
will embrace a number of initiatives
related to community safety –
enhancing the way they work
together, while preserving the
integrity and focus of each.
In addition, Community Services
Department is working on plans to
expand and realign resources to
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support an expanded and more
integrated Safedmonton office. This
office will offer administrative and
project support to a variety of
community safety initiatives.
Joining forces within the expanded
Safedmonton umbrella makes the
most sense in terms of a sustainable
and an interconnected administrative
platform for the Edmonton
Community Drug Strategy.
Public Consultation

Over 40 community agency partners
constitute the Edmonton Community
Drug Strategy and its working
groups. In 2004 over 150 community
partners and individuals took part in
stakeholder workshops to lay the
ground work for the drug strategy
focus in 2004-2007. Since then,
specific projects have been
developed through a consultative
process with community experts,
users and service delivery agencies.
Budget/Financial Implications
Administration will identify the
appropriate budget and funding sources
to consider the implementation of an
administrative program in 2008.
Justification of Recommendations
1. The ECDS Task Force was formed in
2005 to identify a sustainable
platform for this coalition of
community partners once Health
Canada funding ends in March 2008.
Integration to enhance the work of the
Edmonton Community Drug Strategy
within, for example, an expanded
Safedmonton umbrella and
leadership structure makes the most
sense in terms of a sustainable
administrative platform for this
initiative.
Seeking a Sustainable Approach
2. This report is provided as per Bylaw
14096 and it highlights the evolution
and accomplishments of the
community partners who form the
Edmonton Community Drug Strategy
Task Force.
Attachments
1. Seeking a Sustainable Approach:
The Final Report of the Edmonton
Community Drug Strategy Task
Force July 2007
2. Bylaw 14096
Background Information Available
on Request
1. The Alberta Youth Experience
Survey (TAYES) 2005 , AADAC
2. National Framework for Action to
Reduce the Harms and Other Drugs
and Substances in Canada, Fall
2005
3. ECDS Tolerant Shelter Report, May
2007
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