Alberta man asks province’s top court to fast-track appeal of drug-use site closure after overdose

An Alberta man, whose legal case against the government’s closure of the Red Deer supervised drug-use site was dismissed, is asking the province’s highest court to fast-track his appeal after he suffered a near-fatal overdose.

Aaron Brown, 41, recently recovered from an overdose, which led to seizures, after spending weeks at the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre. His lawyer Avnish Nanda said Mr. Brown was discharged last month but his life is still at risk without access to a drug-use site, where people can consume substances under medical supervision.

In a letter sent to the Alberta Court of Appeal on Monday, Mr. Nanda argued Mr. Brown’s case should be expedited on the grounds that a ruling will have “immediate precedential value” and could limit the risk of severe harm to his client and others.