Kalum shares his story of recovery from addiction

November 14, 2024

“It’s pretty unbelievable at how easy and quick (substance use) can happen, and how it can just happen to anybody. It doesn’t discriminate,” says Kalum Russell, who got the help he needed through the Opioid Dependency Program at Recovery Alberta.

“It’s pretty unbelievable at how easy and quick (substance use) can happen, and how it can just happen to anybody. It doesn’t discriminate,” says Kalum Russell, who got the help he needed through the Opioid Dependency Program at Recovery Alberta. Photo by Evan Isbister.

Help available in-person, online through Opioid Dependency Program at Recovery Alberta

Story by Shelley Rattray | Photo & video by Evan Isbister

EDMONTON — Addiction is complex and there is no one single cause. “Sometimes there’s genetic factors, sometimes people are exposed to environments with opiate use,” says Dr. Mohit Singh, addiction psychiatrist with Recovery Alberta’s Edmonton Opioid Dependency Program (ODP).

“Sometimes there’s things that happen in our lives likes stresses that happen that can make us more predisposed to trying or even developing that dependency.”

For Kalum Russell, a lot of it was peer pressure. “I was hanging out with people who were like 20, 21-years-old — and I was 14.”

Russell, a client at the Edmonton ODP clinic, says he believes most of it was being at the wrong place at the wrong time in his life when he started to use substances.

“It’s pretty unbelievable at how easy and quick it can happen, and how it can just happen to anybody. It doesn’t discriminate.”

Given that many factors contribute to substance use, Dr Singh adds: “It’s important to really get to know the person that’s coming in, in order to figure out a plan that’s going to be most effective to help them.”

Russell found help when he was hospitalized due to substance use. A social worker, whom he describes, as a ‘godsend’, provided him with access to the ODP program.

Across Alberta, Recovery Alberta has 15 clinics that treat opioid dependency — including the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program that can be accessed anywhere in the province. Last year, 8,689 individuals were treated through an ODP program, up from 7,883 the previous year.

“We want people to know there is hope for recovery,” says Dr. Singh.

For more information about opioid dependency, visit www.recoveryalberta.ca. To access same-day services, call the Virtual Opioid Dependency Program at 1-844-383-7688.

Help and support is also available 24/7 through the Addiction Helpline at 1-866-332-2322, or through 211.

For more on Kalum’s story, watch the video.

Recovery Alberta recognizes National Addictions Awareness Week (NAAW), which runs Nov. 24 – 30.