Re: "Drug scourge devastating our city and nothing is being done," Chris Nelson, Opinion, Aug. 25. Thanks for Chris Nelson's excellent column, which raises important issues. Firstly, it is outrageous that it has taken 17 months for ASIRT to release its findings in the shooting death of Anthony Heffernan. I do understand why prosecutors declined a criminal prosecution of the policeman involved, as success would require proof beyond a reasonable doubt. On the other hand, no such requirement is necessary for city police to immediately fire the officer. If CPS wants to "protect and serve," this should happen immediately. [continues 121 words]
RECENTLY I MET a man in Phoenix who told me that being diagnosed with cancer had made him happy. "How could this be?" I asked him. He told me having cancer meant he would likely need surgery, which in turn meant more prescriptions for the pain pills to which he had become addicted. He had started using prescription painkillers when he was young. Over the years, addiction hijacked his brain, compromising his health, altering his reasoning, and leaving broken relationships and deferred dreams in its wake. [continues 836 words]
Advocates Say Clean Paraphernalia for Inmates Will Curb Blood-Borne Illness Rates in Prison, but Correctional Staff Say They're Unsafe The availability of illicit drugs in B.C. prisons underscores the need for needle exchanges to curb the transmission of blood-borne illnesses behind bars, civil liberties advocates say, but correctional staff are strongly opposed to the idea, arguing that the increased availability of clean needles could do more harm than good. Marijuana is the most commonly seized intoxicant from federal prisons in British Columbia, with 225 seizures from eight sites between January, 2010, and June of this year, according to records obtained by The Globe and Mail under freedom of information legislation. [continues 582 words]
Medical marijuana dispensaries and users getting mired in new regulations Growing your own dope just got a little easier. Sure, there's all kinds of legal mumbo-jumbo, fire and zoning codes and doctor's notes to obtain, but technically, the federal government just gave medical-marijuana users the green light to grow their own pot. After federal court Judge Michael Phelan struck down the previous Marijuana for Medical Purposes (MMPR) legislation in February, which barred medical marijuana patients from growing their own cannabis (which they could under the previous Marijuana Medical Access Regulations), he gave the newly-elected Liberal government six months to create new medical marijuana laws. [continues 967 words]
ALDERVILLE - A marijuana dispensary appears to be the first of its kind in Northumberland County. The store is called South Shore Wellness - Full Service Cannabis Dispensary and is located at 8987 on Hwy. 45 in Roseneath. The store has been open for approximately two months at the location and after a recent visit by Northumberland Today, it seems business is flourishing. It is located in an area where there is another store which would be for this type of product including a hydroponic store. [continues 482 words]
Drug-user support groups set up temporary, illegal SIS to aid with OD crisis A small tent pitched in Surrey on Wednesday symbolized the desperate measures being taken to end the ongoing overdose crisis killing drug users across B.C. In an act of rebellion, drug-user support groups established an illegal, temporary supervised-injection site (SIS) in the city ahead of income-assistance payments Wednesday. Two weeks ago, Fraser Health responded to 36 non-fatal overdoses in Surrey within 48 hours. Research has shown overdose deaths in B.C. increase by 40 per cent during income-assistance weeks. [continues 800 words]
The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department will soon begin a local needle exchange program aimed at preventing intravenous drug users from contracting HIV or Hepatitis C. The health board voted unanimously Thursday in support of starting a program which will be administered at two local sites. Both the Talbot Center, a drug addiction recovery center in East Toledo, and St. Paul United Methodist Church downtown have agreed to be access points for the exchanges, said Kelly Burkholder-Allen, acting director of health services. [continues 553 words]
Maryland has recently enacted or proposed two work-arounds for the problem of Suboxone being smuggled into prisons. The first action, taking Suboxone off the Medicaid preferred drug list ("State action limits opioid addiction treatments," June 23), destabilized patients in recovery without reducing demand in prisons. Last week, Maryland correctional officials proposed a ban on prisoners receiving personal letters by mail. This proposal was later withdrawn, presumably as a response to criticism by the ACLU ("Maryland corrections officials withdraw proposal to limit inmate mail to postcards," July 21). [continues 275 words]
It is without doubt ironic that you use the word 'crack' in your editorial when hundreds of millions of Canadian dollars are thrown down the drain with regards to the so-called "harm reduction" in the form of freebies to the drug dealers and drug addicts. Like all things, it started with a simple idea of giving syringes to prevent the spread of hepatitis. Then they were advised by the drug companies to give them crack pipes, push sticks, mouth pieces, swabs, heroin fryers and rubber bands etc. Please note the rubber bands are medical rubber bands and the crack pipes are medical crack pipes. That way the drug companies make more profit. [continues 94 words]
With fatal drug overdoses at a 10-year high in O.C., it is important to take the time to reevaluate our approach to drug abuse and tackle the harms of such abuse through evidence-based practices proven to save lives. According to reporting by the Register, at least 400 people lost their lives last year due to drug overdoses. More than two-thirds of the overdoses last year were tied to opioids. Given the tremendous stigma around drug use and abuse, it is often too difficult for people with substance abuse problems to reach out for help. Ingrained and institutionalized attitudes against drug use have in turn left few resources beyond the criminal justice system to actually assist those in need. [continues 322 words]
"We're talking about hundreds of deaths," Justine McIsaac lamented. For the past year, McIsaac has been on the front lines of Canada's opiate crisis, as an outreach worker for the Street Health Centre. The hundreds of lives lost, she explained, go beyond the city's boundaries, extending not just across the province but across the country. Last week, an announcement was made by Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott regarding the opiate crisis. Philpott signed an interim order to temporarily allow naloxone - a critical overdose-reversing drug - to be imported and sold in spray form across Canada. [continues 699 words]
Every day, hundreds of discarded needles are picked up from Whalley streets, many of them just steps from City Hall. Now, a downtown business group is offering up fresh solutions. On one side of the street, children glide up and down on their skateboards at Chuck Bailey skate park. Their laughter fills the air. On the other side of 107A Avenue, not far away, a homeless man named Robert sits on the ground behind a tree, shrieking while feverishly clapping his hands. His belongings, including a handful of needles, are strewn about on a damp, dirty piece of carpet. [continues 1390 words]
Tireless advocate for safe injection sites ODs days before they are expected to be approved Brooklyn McNeil spent much of the last year advocating for a service that could have saved her own life. Instead, there will be an empty chair tomorrow as Toronto's board of health debates whether to proceed with three safe injection sites in the city after a record 258 overdose deaths in 2014 - a 77-per-cent increase over a decade ago. McNeil, an Ontario scholar, singer, artist and harm-reduction advocate, died of an overdose in an east Toronto alley last month. She would have turned 23 on Tuesday. "She was so amazing at helping so many people," said her grieving mother, Thia Massaro, on the phone from Thunder Bay, where McNeil grew up. "But in the end she couldn't help herself." McNeil began injecting opiates when she was 18 and had survived six previous overdoses. [continues 1024 words]
Ontario pharmacies to distribute life-saving naloxone free to people at risk, their families or friends WATERLOO REGION - A life-saving drug that reverses the effects of an accidental overdose will be available for free at pharmacies across Ontario. People at risk of an overdose, their family or friends can pick up naloxone at a pharmacy and receive training on how to safely administer the drug in the case of an emergency opioid overdose. "It's fantastic news," said Chris Harold, acting manager of the harm reduction program at Region of Waterloo Public Health. [continues 359 words]
There's An Antidote for Heroin Overdose, and a Former Addict Is Among Those Working to Spread It Far and Wide Joshua Livernois woke up hazy, sick and splashed with Dr. Pepper in a hospital bed in Salinas, California. He couldn't piece together the events of the previous day or so, and he's still not even sure which year it was, probably 2005 or '06. He'd been using heroin off and on for about 10 years and almost daily for five. [continues 2388 words]
Councillor ready for site but wants more than one An Ottawa councillor says he welcomes a supervised injection site downtown - but only if there are similar services across the city. On Monday, Rideau-Vanier Coun. Mathieu Fleury and five other councillors on the board of health will debate a staff report that recommends opening a supervised injection site in the city. Given that the Sandy Hill Community Health Centre has already consulted on its plan to provide such a service, a supervised injection site will likely go in his ward. [continues 472 words]
Supervised drug-injection sites help keep police officers and other first responders safe, says a former deputy chief of the Ottawa police. No, says his former boss, they encourage abuse and addiction and ultimately support organized crime. Larry Hill and Vern White are formerly two of Ottawa's top cops. They know each other, worked together. Their positions on supervised injection sites, expressed in separate interviews, couldn't be more opposed. Hill was a career Ottawa cop. He worked patrol, the tactical squad, professional standards, staff jobs like research and planning. He was head of the senior officers' association before becoming deputy chief in 2000. In that job, he did a lot of the force's outreach to groups with which it had difficult relationships, such as Ottawa's gay and visible-minority communities. He retired in 2008. [continues 1167 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]
Ontario's new attorney general says Ottawa should heed the advice of its top doctor, who is publicly urging the city to support supervised injection sites. In his first interview since Monday's cabinet shuffle, Ottawa Centre MPP Yasir Naqvi expressed support for the controversial sites as a means to reduce harm to drug addicts. "I believe in evidence-based solutions," Naqvi told Metro on Tuesday morning. "If the officer of health is telling us that the evidence results in better care and ensuring people get the treatment and that we reduce the harm to the individual and to others through reducing the risk of the transfer of HIV and hepatitis C, then we should pay close attention to that expert advice." [continues 191 words]
Marijuana plants could be growing legally in Ohio soil in a year, predicts state Sen. Dave Burke, an architect of Ohio's newly minted medical marijuana law. "As soon as 16 months, you would have products tested and available," the Marysville Republican said. House Bill 523, the medical marijuana law, completed a rocky journey through the legislature Wednesday. It is now headed to Gov. John Kasich. Kasich has not indicated whether he will sign the bill into law. He also could veto it or allow it to take effect without his signature. [continues 515 words]
