Pubdate: Tue, 22 Sep 2015
Source: Sudbury Star (CN ON)
Copyright: 2015 Osprey Media
Contact: http://www.thesudburystar.com/letters
Website: http://www.thesudburystar.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/608
Author: Mary Katherine Keown
Page: A1

CALL FOR DRUG STRATEGY

Police and health officials say Sudbury needs to develop its own
approach

The Sudbury and District Health Unit, along with the Greater Sudbury
Police Service and several dozen other community partners, have put
out the call to action - Greater Sudbury needs a homegrown drug strategy.

Dr. Penny Sutcliffe, the city's medical officer of health and chief
executive officer of the health unit, hoped to impress upon members of
the community services committee the social, as well as economic,
impacts of drug and alcohol abuse.

"Drug use impacts all of us =C2=85 it's a community-wide call to action,"

she said. "Substance misuse affects everyone - from individual health
to family turmoil, from health care burden to community safety."

Brenda Stankiewicz, a public health nurse with the health unit, and
Police Chief Paul Pedersen joined Sutcliffe in their quest for council
endorsement.

The drug strategy cuts across themes and brings together the efforts
of about 50 community groups. It hinges on harm reduction services, as
well as policing, health promotion, treatment options and sustainable
relationships.

"Alcohol is the most commonly misused substance in our community,
followed by marijuana and prescription medications," Stankiewicz told
The Star last week. "Then, of course, there are the harder drugs, such
as heroin, cocaine, etc." The numbers are startling. According to
research conducted by Greater Sudbury's first responders, there were
400 EMS calls made in 2013 related to drug overdoses, while 1020 calls
were made for alcohol intoxication.

Stats Canada, meanwhile, has found that 41% of Nickel City residents
have used illicit drugs at some point in their lives, while 14% of
adults - and 34% of young people (up to about 18 years of age) - have
admitted to using drugs within the last 12 months.

Stankiewicz said about 16% of youth have used prescription drugs in
order to get high.

"Eighty-seven percent of those kids got the prescription medications
from home," she continued. "It makes us all a part of this strategy,
of that drug picture."

Everyone with a medicine cabinet, Stankiewicz stressed, could be
unknowingly providing young and impressionable people with drugs.

"It's anything from hydromorphone and fentanyl, to Ritalin," she
added.

Overdose and drug poisoning are frighteningly common. From 2008 to
2013, Stankiewicz noted there had been 105 deaths within the Sudbury
region related to opioid toxicity.

"That's one death every three weeks," she said. "It's a big number,
but there's a human face to each of these. There is a life lost, life
potential lost. The average age (at death) is 43 - they're likely
people with family somewhere, possibly with children. They 're missed
by someone. =C2=85 That's a huge human cost. There's a lot of potential
missing when these people leave our communities early."

At Monday's meeting of the community services committee, Ward 4 Coun.
Evelyn Dutrisac, who helped devise the strategy, commented that it
continues to be difficult for users to access services and resources.

But building relationships is essential to success, Stankiewicz said,
as there may be some users who decide at some point they want to leave
the drugs behind.

"When that day comes, they've got access into the system; they've got
someone who cares, who can help them to navigate the next steps to get
clean," she said.

While the local police force laid 549 drug offences in 2013, the chief
emphasized a robust and multi-pronged approach.

"Enforcement can never be the only way we deal with these problems -
the issues are complex and the solutions are multi-faceted," Pedersen
told the committee. "Our approach needs to be strategic. There needs
to be a beginning, middle and end."

With more than 100 options on the table, Stankiewicz said the strategy
has been meticulously laid out and planned.

"(It) includes nine priorities and 114 action steps - things like
housing, shelter, increasing access to our diverse population, health
and success for people who are using substances," she indicated last
week. "It's important that the community understands its role in this,
so that community members feel safe."

The members of the community services committee enthusiastically
endorsed the drug strategy.
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MAP posted-by: Matt