Research shows death rate is 12 times higher for people who were jailed in past year A new study into drug overdose deaths in Ontario among recently incarcerated adults points to the need for better services to treat them in the community. One in 10 adults in Ontario who died of a drug overdose between April 2006 and March 2013 had been incarcerated in a provincial facility within one year of death, a study from researchers at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto has found. [continues 484 words]
New stats on HIV and Hepatitis C among drug users backs calls for safe injection sites Those pushing to build safe injection sites in London seized upon stats Tuesday that show an epidemic of HIV and Hepatitis C among drug users in the city. "Do I hope this HIV outbreak will help to convince people (safe injection sites are needed)? Yes I do," Dr. Chris Mackie, medical officer of health for London and Middlesex County said Tuesday. "We will probably need one in our community if not more than one." [continues 428 words]
The leader of an advocacy group supporting family members of inmates in federal institutions says something needs to be done to correct the high numbers of false positives for drug residue picked up on ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) devices, or ion scanners. These false positives have resulted in visits by family members being rejected or changed to a higher security setting. "Once your son, daughter or husband is involved in the justice system, you're just thrown for a loop," Anne Cattral of Ottawa of Mothers Offering Mutual Support (MOMS), a group of approximately 35 mothers of federal and provincial inmates offering support for new family members of new inmates, said in a phone interview. "Nobody knows where to turn or how to get advice, information or anything, so that's our No. 1 mandate." [continues 1073 words]
I don't understand the powers that be in Toronto. They raid pot dispensaries because they pose a danger to the public, yet at the same time are pushing for safe injection sites for heroin, coke, or whatever. Chief Saunders said there were concerns about the quality, potency and consistency of the pot found in the shops. Will he have the same concerns about the drugs used at the injection sites? Has Toronto learned nothing about the heavy-handed methods used by the police force? Remember the raids on Morgentaler's clinics and the gay bath houses and the G20 fiasco? What a complete waste of resources and time. Alan Burnell (No one is opening up safe injection sites in defiance of the law. So-called medical pot dispensaries were operating in defiance of the law. That's a pretty fundamental difference) [end]
British Columbia researchers have determined a straightforward method for health-care professionals to effectively identify people at a heightened risk of dying from a future drug overdose. Scientists at the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV-AIDS revealed those who have recently survived a non-fatal overdose are more likely to die from a subsequent overdose. The study's senior author, Kanna Hayashi, described the research as the first of its kind because it found the risk of death from an overdose increases significantly with each non-fatal overdose experienced. [continues 184 words]
Researchers looking into a safe drug-injection site in London have finished interviewing 200 needle users. Now, they face another set of interview subjects - such as police, and politicians - who may not be as welcoming of a site. "It's to gain feedback, their perceptions and knowledge about the issues they might face," Geoff Bardwell, who is co-ordinating the research, said Wednesday. "There is going to be a variety of perspectives. What we are hoping to do is ensure we capture all the perspectives." [continues 404 words]
Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) has initiated a shakeup among community services in the Downtown Eastside. The regional health-care provider has eliminated funding for the Drug User Resource Centre (DURC), which has operated on East Cordova Street across from Oppenheimer Park since 2003. That building, a community centre run by the Portland Hotel Society, has served as a home base for some controversial harm-reduction programs. Those include an alcohol-maintenance program where alcoholics brew their own beer, as well as support groups for crack and meth users. By cutting the DURC'S funding, VCH will save $650,000 a year. [continues 251 words]
Striking Down Canada's Mandatory Minimum Drug Sentence Was Not Necessary The Supreme Court got it wrong. Not spectacularly wrong. After all, this is no longer the court of former Chief Justice Antonio Lamer. During Lamer's tenure (1990 to 2000), the court frequently made up new laws and new rights out of thin air. In one especially appalling decision - the 1999 Marshall case from Nova Scotia - the Lamer court so badly misinterpreted the history of the early Maritime treaties with First Peoples that it was forced to issue a formal correction of its ruling. [continues 535 words]
The Supreme Court got it wrong. Not spectacularly wrong. After all, this is no longer the court of former Chief Justice Antonio Lamer. During Lamer's tenure (1990 to 2000), the court frequently made up new laws and new rights out of thin air. In one especially appalling decision - the 1999 Marshall case from Nova Scotia - the Lamer court so badly misinterpreted the history of the early Maritime treaties with First Peoples that it was forced to issue a formal correction of its ruling. [continues 536 words]
A two-day fatality inquiry has been set into the jailhouse death of a former city resident convicted of the April 1992 murder of Darlene Korolak. Derek Brian Upton was 15 years old at the time of the murder but was tried and convicted as an adult for first degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison and, under the provisions of the Young Offender Act in force at the time, was eligible for parole after 15 years incarceration. On Christmas Eve 2011, Upton and fellow inmate Nicholas Whynott were found dead in their cells at Drumheller Institute from a suspected drug overdose. [continues 106 words]
EXCLUSIVE: Former RCMP officer says good old-fashioned proactive policing will force bad guys to 'get out of Dodge' Everyone and their dog has an opinion on how Surrey's law enforcement could or should be cracking down on the rampant shooting spree. Joseph Edwards certainly does. And as a retired RCMP officer with 35 years of service under his belt - - 15 in Surrey - it's safe to say he knows the agency and the city well. [continues 934 words]
They're not the infamous Bloods and Crips that have waged bloody battles over the drug trade in Los Angeles. But a Blood Tribe police investigator warns the two gangs who've adopted those monikers - and are prone to wielding machetes and hatchets - could spur a rise in violence in two southern Alberta communities. The Bloods and the Crips, who are not affiliated with the Los Angeles street gangs, began their long-standing feud on the Blood Tribe, a sprawling First Nation southwest of Lethbridge. [continues 406 words]
SURREY - Surrey Mayor Linda Hepner is confident that "this too shall pass." She is of course referring to the relentless shooting spree that continued in Surrey this week. As of Wednesday morning there had been 32 shooting incidents since Jan. 1. There have been three arrests related to the incidents. Hepner said the city has made "significant progress" in this year's shootings and the current violence is different than last year's, in which the city saw 52 shootings. A handful of the incidents are believed to be connected to a new drug war different from last year's dial-a-dope turf war. Police haven't put a name to the two groups but characterized them as "low-level" players. [continues 709 words]
Another SHOT at Life A drug is saving lives on Surrey streets - and Health Canada just made it available without a prescription. But as 'Now' reporter Amy Reid witnesses firsthand, even experienced drug users are not immune to the rash of overdoses striking the region. Click here to read her column. Her voice pierces the air, her face crimson like the setting sun. She summons all her energy to scream. "NARCAN!" Jeff's gone limp on the pavement, heroin burning through his veins. [continues 1367 words]
My recent columns on B.C.'s struggle with the growing westward migration of transients have produced responses that fall mainly into two groups. The largest is people relieved that somebody is questioning the urban media narrative. That's the one where drifters, drug addicts, welfare shoppers and thieves are the victims and working people, whose hard-earned communities are being degraded, are the problem because of their selfish, uncaring attitudes. Then there are readers so marinated in our nanny-state education, media and political system they object to anything other than a big-government response. They tend to ask, what's your solution, Tom? [continues 511 words]
My recent columns on B.C.'s struggle with the growing westward migration of transients have produced responses that fall mainly into two groups. The largest is people relieved that somebody is questioning the urban media narrative. That's the one where drifters, drug addicts, welfare shoppers and thieves are the victims and working people, whose hard-earned communities are being degraded, are the problem because of their selfish, uncaring attitudes. Then there are readers so marinated in our nanny-state education, media and political system they object to anything other than a big-government response. They tend to ask, what's your solution, Tom? [continues 510 words]
