Opioid crisis draws attention to supervised drug-use sites, but Manitoba's not interested - so far

A DECADE ago, fentanyl, the killer synthetic opioid that can be 100 times more potent than morphine, was a relatively unknown drug. Today, it's everywhere - and it's at the heart of a national crisis claiming the lives of hundreds of Canadians.

In Manitoba, at least two dozen people have died from opioid overdoses in 2016, nine confirmed to be caused by or related to fentanyl. It's a dangerous drug that many people don't even know they're taking: it's often showing up in other illicit drugs such as cocaine and heroin.

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Opioid conference misses point, advocate says

A policy to address the latest opioids crisis at a Health Canada conference in Ottawa does not go far enough, or fast enough, to prevent future deaths, an advocate says.

Cynthia Genaille, whose daughter Brittany died of a fentanyl overdose on Oct. 6, speaks to media during a small rally denouncing the opioid in front of the Legislative Building.

"Where's the urgency?" Richard Elliott, the executive director for the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, asked. "You need to stop people from dying now."

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National poll finds 65% of Manitobans fear spike in impaired driving once pot becomes legal

If you're afraid drugged driving will become more common once marijuana is legalized, you are certainly not alone.

CAA Manitoba reports found 65% of Manitobans surveyed in a national poll believe there will be an increase in impaired driving once recreational marijuana use is legal. Meanwhile, 24% say they've driven while under the influence of marijuana or been the passenger of someone who has.

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Calls for national strategy heading into summit on illicit drugs

MANITOBA'S health minister is calling on the federal government to stop the flow of powdered fentanyl from countries such as China.

"We need national strategies around that," Kelvin Goertzen said Monday at a news conference to mark addictions awareness week.

The event, held before Friday's national opioid conference and summit in Ottawa, included some of the province's leading addictions and health officials and the mothers of two victims of fentanyl overdoses.

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Trafficking teen gets off with reprimand

A Winnipeg teen convicted of possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking got off with a reprimand - the lightest sanction available under the Youth Criminal Justice Act - after a judge ruled police violated his rights after his arrest.

Police arrested the then 17-year-old accused after a safety and security officer at his high school reported suspicions he had been selling marijuana to other students from his car. Police conducted a traffic stop and found 36 grams of packaged marijuana in a gym bag behind the driver seat.

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Re: Marijuana strategy missing (Letters, Oct. 26)

I'm sure Malina Hedgecock means well, however, cannabis (marijuana) prohibition must be put behind us. The majority of North Americans are through with caging and punishing responsible adults who wish to use the relatively safe, God-given plant. At this point, the strategy is to end one of North America's worst policy failures in history as soon as possible.

It is commendable Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ending cannabis prohibition in Canada. Colorado successfully legalized cannabis for adults, and every subsequent poll indicates Colorado citizens continue supporting the end of cannabis prohibition.

There is every reason to believe that when Canada ends cannabis prohibition, the majority will not look back with regret either.

Stan White

Dillon, Col.

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Re: Grits' plan to legalize pot hazy: province (Oct.21).

I think marijuana should only be legalized for medicinal purposes and not for recreational purposes. Therefore, I don't think marijuana should be sold at provincial liquor stores, but should be provided at hospitals when prescribed by a doctor or personal psychiatrists.

I find that marijuana is an unsafe substance and I think that people impairing their train of thought and ability to comprehend what is happening around them without consequences is dangerous.

I agree that Manitoba should work on a harm reduction strategy to address dangers of marijuana and not just look into the revenue.

Malina Hedgecock

Winnipeg

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Two treatment programs closed

THE closure of two youth-treatment programs has raised concerns about access to addictions treatment for young people involved in Manitoba's criminal justice system.

The youth addiction and mental health treatment programs run by the Behavioural Health Foundation closed permanently this spring because of a lack of funding. The shuttering of the two programs - one in Selkirk for boys and the other in St. Norbert for girls - was already in the works when a Red River College student was brutally attacked by two boys at the Selkirk facility during the final shift of her child and youth care practicum last May.

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Manitoba stands on the edge of a opioid crisis that promises tragedy for families across the province and we're about to tumble into that dark abyss.

Fentanyl is ripping through Winnipeg streets and is so prevalent and dangerous that the Winnipeg Police Service is considering having officers carry naxolone, an opiate antidote.

That news comes on the heels of a pair of deaths that were linked to carfentanil, which is touted as 100 times as potent as fentanyl, which is itself already said to be 100 times stronger than morphine.

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WINNIPEG police officers will soon join fire and paramedic emergency workers in carrying the antidote to fentanyl overdoses.

Deputy police chief Danny Smyth confirmed to the Winnipeg Police Board Friday they are working with health officials on how officers can carry doses of Naloxone and administer it.

Smyth said one concern is the lifesaving drug can't be used in temperatures lower than 4 C. According to various pharmaceutical websites, the drug works at temperatures up to 25 C.

"We will have to figure out how officers will carry the drug," he said.

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It really makes my blood boil when I read about senseless deaths from drug overdoses that were very likely behind the demise of the two men recently found dead in their car.

Drug laws must change, as drug dealers are under no compulsion to produce a pure product in a standard dosage, and they profit handsomely from the sale of their adulterated wares. If drugs were regulated and sold at cost to those with addictions, it would be better for all concerned.

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Price, availability, addictiveness appeal to young people, police say

THE city's youth are fuelling a surge in methamphetamine use because it's a cheaper way to get a long-lasting high.

In fact, "because of its affordability, addictive nature and accessibility, the methamphetamine user base in Winnipeg has increased significantly over a few short years, allowing traffickers to prosper," the Winnipeg Police Service said in a statement.

Sadly, both police and health officials don't expect the situation to get better any time soon.

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Pot activist aims to make 4/20 family friendly

"As pot's becoming legal, why wouldn't it be like any other festival?" Steven Stairs, president of the Winnipeg 4/20 organizing committee

Should the same festival offer both a "bud garden" and a bouncy castle?.

A local medical marijuana advocate is proposing just that for a pro-cannabis event next spring.

Steven Stairs, president of the Winnipeg 4/20 organizing committee, said he's met with city and provincial officials to discuss ways to add a kid-friendly element to festivities a day after the main event on April 20, 2017.

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Owner doesn't expect trouble from police.

Winnipeggers green with envy over the lack of marijuana dispensaries sprouting up as they have in other cities can finally chill as there's a new pot shop in town.

It's not going to have cannabis products on site, but after its soft launch on Friday, 'Weeds Glass and Gifts' will begin signing up legal clients to order marijuana medicine on their behalf.

Owner Don Brier said the new store at 52 Adelaide Street will be a headshop, an education centre and intermediary between cannabis users and suppliers.

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Bill Blair, the federal government's lead on legalizing marijuana, has been quietly meeting with advocates for the illegal pot shops springing up across the country, hearing their arguments for how regulating the sector could help eliminate the black market.

Mr. Blair blasted dispensary operators at a recent conference as reckless profiteers "who don't care about the law, who don't care about regulations, don't care about kids, they don't care about communities, they don't care about health of Canadians." But days later, the Liberal MP and former Toronto Police chief held a series of informal "behind the scenes" talks at the party's convention in Winnipeg, according to Rosy Mondin, a Vancouver lawyer who recently co-founded the non-profit Cannabis Trade Alliance of Canada, which represents legal and illegal marijuana business owners.

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If not for stepping out for a coffee, my oldest nephew, Jay, would have been among the nearly 100 arrested in the coordinated police raids of 43 storefront Toronto pot dispensaries at the end of May.

Instead, he got grainy smartphone footage of the takedown of the dispensary where he works as a clerk - footage taken from across the street of police with guns drawn, of his co-workers in handcuffs, and even a "patient" in a wheelchair being cuffed as well.

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While marijuana dispensaries proliferate and engage in a game of legally-grey chicken with authorities in some Canadian cities, Winnipeg police say the same simply isn't happening locally.

"There are a few people that have tried to open up and we enforced the laws as we know them right away," said Winnipeg Police Service Grow Operations Unit member, Sgt. Carrol MacDonald.

"To my knowledge there has only been a handful, it's not as bad as Toronto or Vancouver."

'Look what happened'

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Justin Trudeau sits down with Free Press editor Paul Samyn to talk about urgent legislation, First Nations, marijuana... and Stephen Harper

PRIME Minister Justin Trudeau sat down with Winnipeg Free Press editor Paul Samyn for an exclusive interview Thursday.

The event, held at the Winnipeg Free Press News Cafe, was a fulfilment of promise Trudeau had made to the newspaper.

"I was here a few years ago, and one of the promises I made - and it's great when a politician can keep promises - was to come back," said the casually dressed Trudeau.

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Pot Protesters Call Out PM on Lack of Action on Promise to Legalize

A disillusioned group of medical marijuana users rallied outside the RBC Convention Centre hoping to capture the attention of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the Liberal Party convention Saturday.

Once enthused by Trudeau's election promise to legalize marijuana, the group was stunned by Project Claudia, a raid where 90 people at multiple cannabis dispensaries were arrested in Toronto on Thursday.

"I'm here to defend dispensaries and what went on in Toronto," said Holly Plouffe, who legally uses medicinal marijuana to address a number of health conditions. "I think that's a terrible waste of tax dollars. Cannabis is saving lives. Cannabis is saving my life. I've been terribly sick and it's doing me far better than any prescription pills ever have, and I really want to see the mania stopped. People are sick. They have taken away medicine from sick people. Thousands of sick people are going without today and that is wrong."

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OTTAWA - Health Minister Jane Philpott stood before the United Nations last month and solemnly vowed that, by the spring of next year, marijuana use would be legal and tightly regulated in Canada.

Notably, she said: " We know it is impossible to arrest our way out of this problem."

And yet, if the next year is like any other recent year, as many 60,000 Canadians will be arrested for simple pot possession and, of those, about 22,000 will end up with criminal records.

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