Why an Alberta lawyer is pushing back on part of the province's new addictions strategy

This story is part of a series called The Way Out: Addiction in Alberta. Join the discussion, or read more about the series here.

WARNING | This story contains details of drug use.

At 5:55 p.m. every day, 21-year-old Ophelia Black begins the elaborate process of injecting a prescription opioid into her arm. 

First, she calls the National Overdose Response Service (NORS) on her mother's cellphone. 

"They all know me now." 

She sanitizes her hands, puts on latex gloves, fills up a needle with hydromorphone (an opioid like fentanyl but less potent) and then injects it into her arm. 

Once she can confirm she has not overdosed, she thanks the NORS team and proceeds with her evening.

Black will do this again either before bed or in the middle of the night, and then again at 9 a.m. 

"I used to need it six times a day, but I've cut back to three," she says with pride.

For Black, who has struggled with depression since she was a child and, until two years ago, was hooked on fentanyl after years of physical and sexual abuse, she says this is success.

"In the two years that I have had this prescription, I have never had a single infection. Because of how careful I am. I have never overdosed."

But now she can't do this anymore. The provincial government has changed the rules around who can prescribe high-potency, short-acting opioids like the hydromorphone she uses.

So Black has sued the province. Her lawyer, Avnish Nanda, will argue for an emergency injunction in a Calgary courtroom Tuesday morning.

Nanda says he will argue Black should be allowed to continue with her prescription while the lawsuit is being decided in the courts.