Pubdate: Mon, 22 Feb 2016 Source: Capilano Courier, The (CN BC Edu) Copyright: 2016 The Capilano Courier Contact: http://www.capilanocourier.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4983 Author: Gabe Scorgie YOUNG PEOPLE DO DRUGS VIU's New Overdose Kits Won't Lead to Increased Drug Use I'm sure that at some point in history there was a time where people's safety and well-being was a primary concern. Maybe not for everyone, since no period of time is exempt from having a few nasty genocides and wars, but at least for the safety of the children and young adults of a community. Apparently, as liberal as BC likes to think it is, we still fall short of the mark. Currently, Vancouver Island University (VIU) is introducing overdose prevention kits on campus due to a disturbing spike of Fentanyl - a drug 50 times more potent than 100 per cent pure heroin - being found in peoples' drugs and causing hundreds of people to die of overdoses in the last year. News of these kits has been received as mostly positive, but there is one particularly vocal group that's decrying the announcement under the belief that this will make more students want to try drugs. Now, sometimes it's not enough just to call an idiot an idiot. Sometimes you have to break things down for them step-by-step as to why their reasoning is poor, and their beliefs are stupid. So here we are. First off, let's start by stating the obvious: no drug user is trying to overdose. News of the overdose kit isn't going to make people start eating pills of MDMA like they're Tic-Tacs. No matter how reliable these kits are, no student wants to have a near death experience every weekend. Instead, what these kits represent is the peace of mind that even if a night suddenly goes sideways and everything that could go wrong does, that the end result of a poor decision isn't making your family talk to the nice lady at First Memorial Funeral Services. The kit comes with Naloxone, an antidote to Fentanyl that currently requires a prescription to get, though Health Canada is currently in the process of making the drug available over the counter for everyone. Naloxone blocks opiate receptors in the nervous system, counteracting the effects of drugs like Heroin which can depress the nervous and respiratory systems to the point where an overdose victim can't breathe. It can either be injected into the vein or sprayed up someone's nose. The drug has already been used in Halifax and Baltimore to great success. There's also the reality that even though your parents swear that you're not the type to do those things and that you spend every weekend studying and doing homework with maybe the occasional beer, there's a good chance you're going to be around drugs or on them at some point during University. Average university students that are going to do drugs aren't going to become addicts. They're experimenting because they're curio! us. By providing these kits, VIU is creating a safer environment for people who might otherwise be at risk. The overdose kits are about ensuring the safety of students who will be experimenting with drugs regardless of readily available antidotes. As a rule of thumb, things that are about preventing people from dying should generally be embraced. So think of Naloxone as the condom of drugs - if you're going to do it, you might as well be safe about it. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom