Pubdate: Fri, 19 Oct 2012
Source: Dawson Creek Daily News (CN BC)
Email:  http://www.dawsoncreekdailynews.ca/
Cited: http://mapinc.org/url/WWYujVa5

SEX, DRUGS AND LOTSA OIL

There were no real surprises in the Northern Health report about
industrial work camps in northern British Columbia.

Alcohol and drug use is common - leading to stress in families and
workplace safety issues. Once developed, these habits leak out of the
camps and into the surrounding communities, into our homes.

Also of concern are the high rates of sexually transmitted infections,
perhaps connected to some of the "selected vices" mentioned in the
report. Sex workers providing comfort to men stationed far from home
is certainly a worry for many spouses holding down the fort in town.

Rifts in relationships between husband and wife can easily develop in
this situation - add substance abuse into the mix and it is easy to
see why domestic violence issues are so prevalent.

These facts certainly paint a picture of workers in the patch being
out of control and anti-social in their behaviour. No doubt many of
our upstanding community members will shake their heads, bemoaning the
bad element that these people bring into our city.

Yet more than anything else, the information in the report painted a
picture of men and women who need our understanding.

Away from loved ones, friends and family, their only support are the
guys they meet out in the field. It should be no surprise that
feelings of isolation, loneliness, depression and anxiety are common.
Peer pressure to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol would be
difficult to refuse in those circumstances.

At the end of the day, all these workers want to do it provide for
their families and build a better life for themselves. The price they
pay for that is being far from home, working long hours at a
physically demanding job, and isolated from the rest of society.

While the findings in this report seem damning, the point of this
research is to see determine how we can make life better for them, and
by extension, all of us.
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MAP posted-by: Matt