Narcotics back in the day were more a nuisance than anything else. Local police would regularly arrest people for possession of marijuana. Sometimes something more exotic like psychedelic mushrooms would materialize. The situation became more of a concern when cocaine and its derivatives appeared on the scene. Then came methamphetamine and opioids such as Oxycontin and hydromorphone. Heroin was never an issue locally like it has been in urban areas. Instead, rural areas like Norfolk and Haldimand skipped straight to more problematic substances such as fentanyl and carfentanil. These powerful synthetic opioids have caused the number of drug overdose deaths in Canada to skyrocket in recent months. [continues 408 words]
While details deserve review, it's crucial not to wait for the legalization of cannabis, Marc Gold writes. Bill C-46 would allow police to demand that a driver suspected of having a drug in their body provide a saliva sample. Every holiday season, volunteers for Mothers Against Drunk Driving Canada (MADD) distribute red ribbons to remind us of the lives lost due to impaired driving. Look around over the next few weeks, and you'll find them on key chains, car antennas and pinned to jackets. [continues 607 words]
A union that represents 3,000 oilsands workers at Suncor Energy sites i n northeastern Alberta has won a court injunction against random drug testing. Unifor Local 707- A had argued that random testing would be a violation of workers' rights and privacy. Calgary-based Suncor has said random tests are needed to bolster safety and wanted to start the program this month. In his ruling, Queen's Bench Justice Paul Belzil said the privacy rights of employees are just as important as safety. "In my view the balance of convenience favours granting the injunction," Belzil said in a written judgment released Thursday. [continues 388 words]
While regional councillors have heard bits and pieces about the opioid response in the region, they heard it from the horse's mouth on Tuesday. Members from various regional and community groups spoke before council in a public meeting to encourage a broad understanding of the complex issue. The public meeting was broken down into core areas, such as policing, mental health services and public health services. Bruce Lauckner, CEO of the Waterloo-Wellington Local Health Integration Network (LHIN), said opioids have become similar to cancer, where the general population is impacted by one or two degrees of separation at most. [continues 1113 words]
A DeLand police officer was fired, another suspended without pay and a third reprimanded this month after they lost methamphetamine collected as evidence at a home over the summer, Internal Affairs documents show. Officers Michael Mirino, John Rutherford and Thomas Gillan responded to a home on July 14 to stand by as members of Probation and Parole searched the Lazy River Lane home of Cameron Rando, 19, who was on probation for grand theft and burglary of an unoccupied dwelling according to reports released this week. [continues 383 words]
As a province, Saskatchewan is not known to be on the cutting edge as a national trendsetter. When it comes to the opioid crisis, we should be thrilled to be behind the curve. Recent stories about opioid deaths should prompt officials in Saskatchewan to ramp up activities to prevent an increase in deaths here. In Abbotsford, B.C., five people ages 40 to 67 died of overdoses in a nine-hour period on Friday. The two women and three men all died alone. [continues 357 words]
Supervised drug consumption site set to open Jan. 2 What's old will be renewed again in a bid to save lives from the rising number of drug overdoses in Lethbridge. Government officials and local media received a tour Friday of the city's future supervised consumption site, currently under construction. The former Pulse nightclub is being transformed into what will become a "clean and safe space" area for drug users to snort, inhale, inject or swallow drugs while under the supervision of healthcare professionals and without fear of arrest. [continues 1061 words]
Criminal charges have been laid against Silver International Investment, a money-transfer business that RCMP allege was involved in money laundering, had ties to underground banking and used suspected drug cash to fund Chinese VIP gamblers in B.C. casinos. During the RCMP's so-called E-Pirate probe, Mounties allege they uncovered $500 million-plus from a Richmond money-laundering service that they said handled up to $1.5 million a day. "The Public Prosecution Service of Canada can confirm that charges have been laid against Caixuan Qin, Jian Jun Zhu, and Silver International Investments Ltd. in relation to Project E-Pirate," spokeswoman Nathalie Houle said Wednesday in an email. "We have no other information to provide at this time." [continues 685 words]
Once-respected Sick Kids lab performed tests for more than 100 child welfare providers in five provinces, an investigation reveals. For families who have been torn apart, the fallout is a 'tragedy' In British Columbia, a mother is desperate to convince the children she lost years ago that she didn't choose drugs over them. In Nova Scotia, a 7-year-old girl prays for her brother, who was adopted into another family. And in Ontario, a mother whose daughters were taken shortly after they were born is waiting for a reunion that may never come. [continues 3012 words]
Your meds are safe for a little while longer. Congressional lawmakers bought a little more time for the Rohrabacher-Blumenauer Amendment by extending the current federal budget with a disaster relief bill signed by President Donald Trump earlier this month. The clause is set to expire with the rest of the bill on Dec. 8. The bill itself caught a lot of press due to the shocking ease with which Trump sided with Democrats to raise the debt ceiling. Of the 90 "no" votes in the House of Representatives, all were Republican. (House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told the Washington Post the vote indicated House Republicans "have a philosophical problem with governance.") [continues 427 words]
Waterloo Regional Police Chief Bryan Larkin says police are gearing up for the July 1 deadline when pot will be legal in Canada but he says there is "trepidation and worry" about the upcoming law. Larkin, who is president of the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, said any new legislation and public policy brings "a lot of trepidation" and "a lot of worry." Police are preparing for the July 1 deadline. However, Larkin agrees with other police services and associations who say the date is arbitrary. [continues 321 words]
VANCOUVER - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has closed the door on decriminalizing illicit drugs to combat a national overdose crisis but British Columbia's addictions minister says unprecedented deaths are a "wake-up call" to reconsider that stance. Trudeau said decriminalization is not the approach Canada will take to deal with deadly overdoses often involving the opioid fentanyl. "We are making headway on this and indeed the crisis continues and indeed spreads across the country but we are not looking at legalizing any other drugs than marijuana for the time being," Trudeau told a news conference Thursday at the end of a caucus meeting in Kelowna. [continues 267 words]
A new super-powered drug fuelling a deadly opioid epidemic across Canada has claimed its first Windsor victim. Windsor police confirmed Thursday that a person found dead on the front porch of a downtown house died from a carfentanil overdose. "Carfentanil is designed to tranquilize extremely large animals," said Sgt. Steve Betteridge. "It is not designed for human consumption. This is an example of what human consumption will do to you. This is an extremely dangerous drug." Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid that is 100 times more powerful that fentanyl, 4,000 times more powerful than heroin and 10,000 times more potent than morphine. It's used to tranquilize elephants. A few milligrams can be lethal to humans. [continues 294 words]
Re: Winnipeg in grips of meth problem, say police (Aug. 27) Winnipeg police spokesman Const. Jay Murray is wrong when he says "the majority of property crime in the city is related to the methamphetamine subculture." Drug prohibition is responsible, just as it was when cocaine was the drug de jour in the past. The drug problem boils down to some people want to use those drugs and other people don't want them to. The short of it is that it is none of your business what drugs the next door neighbours are using since none of that use harms you. Repeal drug prohibition and the majority of property crime would end since these drugs that people want could be obtained for cheap and of a known purity at the local pharmacy. Chris Buors Selkirk [end]
Temporary clinic has been open for a week in building at Victoria and Dundas Sts. It has been nearly one week since Toronto opened its first city-run site for people to use illegal intravenous drugs and, so far, three dozen people have used the controversial service. "We are thrilled to be offering this life-saving service to the community," Dr. Rita Shahin, Toronto Public Health's associate medical officer of health, said Saturday. "The very first client that we had when we opened our doors, to us, represents a potential life that we may have saved. We had 36 visits in just five days, which . . . represents a great success. We look forward to more people becoming aware of the service and helping more people in our community." [continues 560 words]
Decriminalize or legalize crack and that will reduce the opioid crisis and save lives? The hare-brained idea from Toronto that the country should consider decriminalizing or legalizing illicit drugs because current policy has failed is not just "crazy," it is insane. It would be laughable if the issue weren't so deadly serious. The worst of it is that Ottawa's medical officer of health, Dr. Isra Levy, supports this, saying Ottawa Public Health backs "new evidence-based approaches" on fighting drug addiction, including decriminalization. Also on side is the councillor for Ottawa-Vanier, Mathieu Fleury. "It's a crazy thought, but it is a crazy thought that might actually have some merit," he said. [continues 597 words]
The hare-brained idea from Toronto that the country should consider decriminalizing or legalizing illicit drugs because current policy has failed is not just "crazy," it is insane. It would be laughable if the issue weren't so deadly serious. It is a crazy thought without any merit - and it has no place in the discussion of the serious problem of opioid addiction that is destroying many young lives in the city and around the country. First proposed by a Toronto overdose panel in the wake of the deadly fentanyl crisis, it was taken up by that city's medical officer of health, Dr. Eileen De Villa, who said decriminalization of all illegal drugs could be the answer to the failure of the current approach to drugs. The key argument of the Toronto overdose action plan is that current policy has reduced neither the drugs, nor the supply. [continues 469 words]
Two local mothers are bringing awareness to the rippling effect drugs leave on families by sharing the stories of their own children enveloped in the throes of addiction. Opening a public discussion about drug addiction is how mothers Shawna Taylor of Airdrie and Christina Sackett of Crossfield first connected. "There are so many families being affected," Taylor said. "I think the stigma is so incredible that people are embarrassed to come forward. It took us a long time." Taylor has been married to her husband Jeff for 23 years and said the two raised their daughter, Kenedee, and son, Nathan, to respect curfews and stay away from drugs. [continues 992 words]
As deadly fentanyl fuels a public health crisis, Free Press reporter Jennifer Bieman reveals what you should know about common London street drugs Forget the old adage that what you don't know, can't hurt you. When it comes to street drugs, what you don't know can kill you. That was the thrust of a rare public health warning - three health agencies and London police joined in its release - last week in London, when authorities stressed that the latest villain in Canada's opioid drug crisis, deadly fentanyl, is turning up in other illegal street drugs. [continues 1350 words]
Proactive public health warning, or scare tactic? A heated debate has erupted after the London region's top public health official warned that illegal drugs, including marijuana, could be contaminated with fentanyl, a powerful painkiller already blamed for hundreds of overdose deaths in Canada this year. There's no shortage of skepticism about part of that warning, involving pot, especially since there's never been a confirmed case of fentanyl-laced marijuana in Canada. Though multiple warnings that fentanyl-contaminated cannabis have circulated in communities - even former B.C. premier Christy Clark made the claim last year - both the RCMP and Canada's health minister have said the rumours haven't been proven. [continues 665 words]
