Pubdate: Tue, 27 Dec 2016
Source: Daily Courier, The (CN BC)
Copyright: 2016 The Okanagan Valley Group of Newspapers
Contact:  http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/531
Author: Ron Seymour
Page: A3

CITIZENS TAKE ACTION ON OVERDOSES

Trio sets up its own overdose-prevention site in Rutland after
Interior Health fails in bid to establish one in community

More pop-up overdose-prevention sites such as the one created Monday
could be coming to a Rutland neighbourhood.

Depending on the response of civic officials and police, additional
efforts could be undertaken to offer places where drug users could
receive naloxone in the event of an overdose.

"We're going into this, frankly, with a lot of unknowns," Norah Bowman
said Monday.

"Are we going to get in trouble? Are we breaking the law?" Bowman
said. "I don't know. But there's a crisis going on out there, and we
just don't want to do nothing."

Bowman, a college instructor who ran for the NDP in last year's
federal election, and a couple other volunteers set up a tent near
Roxby Park off Highway 33 in central Rutland on Monday afternoon.

The idea was that people inclined to do so could go into the tent to
use drugs. If they subsequently exhibited signs of a drug overdose,
they would be given naloxone by Bowman, who has received training in
the administration of the drug.

"This is not a safe injection site. We're not nurses, there's no
social workers on site, and it's not in any way connected with
Interior Health," Bowman said. "We're just like-minded community
members doing what we can to respond to a crisis."

Similar pop-up overdose-prevention sites have been set up by activists
in other areas of the province, most notably on Vancouver's Downtown
Eastside. Volunteers aim to provide immediate help to people
overdosing on drugs laced with fentanyl, and to also call 911.

The unsanctioned sites began appearing in the fall after more than 600
British Columbians died from drug overdoses between January and
October, compared to 400 in the same period last year.

The BC Coroners Service says fentanyl was involved in almost
two-thirds of those deaths.

"People are dying, and we want to do what we can to prevent overdose
deaths," said Michele Rule, a former Kelowna city councillor who was
involved in setting up Monday's overdose-prevention site in Rutland.

Interior Health is currently operating an overdose-prevention site in
downtown Kelowna. Plans for a second site, in Rutland, faltered
earlier this month in part because of opposition to the idea from
nearby business owners.

"This is a show of support for the front-line workers and for Interior
Health as they try to find a new Rutland location, as well as for the
people that need it," Rule said.
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MAP posted-by: Matt