John Lavergne believes a safe injection site will help save lives KITCHENER - John Lavergne lost eight friends last year. All of them died of an opioid overdose. Six of them were in Waterloo Region. Three of them hadn't used in months and had a relapse. They couldn't tell their partners, friends or families they were using again. They used alone and now they are dead, Lavergne said. The Kitchener man says a supervised injection site would have helped them live. [continues 407 words]
WATERLOO REGION - Waterloo Region plans to look further into pursuing three supervised injection sites, following a study that found a need and support in the community for the service to combat fatal opioid overdoses. Sites are proposed for the central cores of Kitchener and Galt, and a third spot to be determined that could be a mobile unit. "In Waterloo Region, we know that overdose is on the rise," said Grace Bermingham, regional manager of information, planning and harm reduction. Bermingham presented findings from the first phase of a feasibility study on supervised injection sites to a regional committee on Tuesday. The second phase involves identifying potential locations and further consultations with people who live, work or go to school near a proposed site. [continues 654 words]
An emergency situation demands an emergency response. When people are trapped in a burning house or wrecked car, the priority should be getting them out alive first, and then worrying about damaged property or blocked roadways. This is how people in Waterloo Region need to understand the horrific and rising number of opioid overdoses ravaging their community. We are, collectively, facing an emergency. People are dying in staggeringly high numbers. Others are suffering terribly. For all their sakes but also for the welfare of this region, we must offer help - even as we work out the details. [continues 419 words]
You save by buying bulk - and this law of shopping logic holds for illegal as well as legal products. Which means someone in Cambridge is either a very sharp negotiator, or a pot-smoking liar As part of the institutional preparation for the legalization of marijuana, Statistics Canada is currently collecting reams of data on the pot economy. This is necessary to ensure the reliability of national accounts when legal weed becomes a reality, as sales will otherwise show up as a huge, immediate spike in consumer purchases. [continues 826 words]
Fentanyl. The drug is one that most people never even heard of until a few years ago. Now it strikes fear into the hearts of public health officials, youth workers, parents and others. A few grains of fentanyl, often mixed with another recreational drug without the user's knowledge, can cause death within minutes. It has caused thousands of overdose deaths in Canada and tens of thousands in the U.S., and those numbers are rising rapidly. How have we dealt with this crisis? The primary strategy has been to supply naloxone, a drug that can reverse the effects of fentanyl, as widely as possible to police officers, health care providers and others who are likely to encounter people who have overdosed. The use of naloxone is a "harm reduction strategy", intended to reduce the negative consequences of using fentanyl, and it has saved many lives. But it is not enough. Overdose deaths from fentanyl continue to increase even after widespread distribution of naloxone kits. We desperately need another strategy. But what kind of strategy would work? [continues 652 words]
WASHINGTON - American officials have been quietly raising questions about whether Canada's marijuana legalization might slow traffic at the border, and are being told by their northern neighbours there's no reason that should happen. The issue has come up in phone calls between high-level officials and again in passing this week during a first face-toface encounter between Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale and his U.S. counterpart, Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. It hasn't been contentious, he said. "The only thing they say is, 'Will this cause lineups?'" Goodale said in an interview. [continues 313 words]
WATERLOO REGION - Regional councillors thanked the public health department for its harm reduction efforts, but said more needs to be done to ensure used needles aren't ending up in public spaces. "I do appreciate the efforts of public health," Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig said at a council meeting on Tuesday. "But we still have a problem." The number of needles distributed through Waterloo Region's needle syringe program has been rising steadily in recent years, reaching a peak in 2017, according to a report presented this week. [continues 471 words]
Cambridge man back at courthouse smoking pot - this time fully clothed KITCHENER - Jeffrey Shaver, the Cambridge man famous for his bong-smoking nearly naked protests across Waterloo Region, has been vindicated. The professional standards branch of Waterloo Regional Police has ruled officers unlawfully arrested, searched and detained him after he smoked medical marijuana in front of the Cambridge police station on Oct. 22, 2016. Shaver, 31, fired up a bong that day to protest a charge of marijuana possession laid on Oct. 20. On both days Shaver showed regional police officers his documents for medical marijuana. Both times he was charged with possession. [continues 644 words]
CAMBRIDGE - Coun. Frank Monteiro has a lot of questions he hopes he can get answers to. He, along with Coun. Mike Mann and two city employees, will visit supervised injectionsites in Toronto, Ottawa and Vancouver to learn more about how the sites work and what doesn't work. Monteiro says that before any decisions can be made locally, more information is needed on how the sites function and how the neighbourhoods around them have been affected. "We want to know what their experience has been since they were established and are people using it," he said. [continues 383 words]
Health Canada's consultation with Canadians on the regulation of marijuana is down to its final days. But what exactly does the government wants us to comment on? Do officials want us to question the stated objectives? Or perhaps they want us to ask why they're being dishonest about their consultation process? We're in the middle of an opioid crisis that has already killed thousands of Canadians and will likely kill thousands more. That clouds this conversation. Yet our experience with other drugs and even ordinary consumer products tells us that government regulations to protect public health by ensuring product safety and quality control are extremely important. [continues 555 words]
The only way Canada can successfully legalize the sale of recreational marijuana in 2018 is by stamping out the illegal market for the drug at the same time. It's not enough for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to argue that ending the era of prohibition for cannabis on July 1 will make it easier for authorities to control the sale of a substance that's less harmful than alcohol and that adults should have the right to use. Fine theories are one thing. Trudeau's federal Liberals and their provincial government partners will be judged by what they deliver in as little as six months, not by their talking points today. [continues 407 words]
CAMBRIDGE - An innovative new peer-based pilot project will be launched in Cambridge early next year with the aim of curbing improper needle disposal in the community. The project is a partnership between Region of Waterloo Public Health, which will provide funding, Sanguen Health Centre and the City of Cambridge. Along with removing needles through patrols and education, it will offer employment and skill development to people who have experienced substance abuse; they will be hired as the peer workers. "There is no harm in trying other methods to connect people and get them on board," said Violet Umanetz, Sanguen's outreach manager. "The peers do so well working in the community." [continues 538 words]
'A year of growth year of finding our feet' WATERLOO REGION - When police chief Bryan Larkin talks about harm reduction and being more humane with the drug user, he gets pushback. When he suggests supervised injection sites may be an alternative to help users take their drugs safely and the site will save lives, he gets pushback. And when he flies the Pride flag at police headquarters, he gets pushback. In each case, he gets criticism from people in the community and sometimes from officers, too. [continues 985 words]
Ottawa must withdraw its plan to charge tax on medicinal marijuana or risk having an adverse effect on patients, a group of more than 50 doctors warned Monday as the federal government hashed out a pot-tax revenue-sharing agreement with the provinces and territories. The doctors, who describe themselves as a group of physicians who routinely prescribe marijuana to their patients, say applying a sales or excise tax to medicinal pot would impose a financial barrier for those who use the drug to manage their symptoms, compared to patients who take other medication. [continues 199 words]
Re: PM says sorry for decades of LGBTQ2 bigotry - Nov. 29 I'm convinced that there is now sufficient precedence set by the apologies and compensations to the LGBTQ2 communities and the First Nations communities that will allow a heartfelt apology and due compensation to the marijuana dealers and users community. Indeed, the dealers of marijuana deserve a greater consideration by the Canadian government in view of the fact that it intends to take over the control and distribution of marijuana throughout the Dominion thus depriving the said dealers of their livelihood. On a note of self-interest, I must state that I, as a good and true capitalist, have profited as a dealer in marijuana on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Joseph Murphy Kitchener [end]
Marketing, packaging of legal marijuana sure to cause headaches VANCOUVER - David Brown's marijuana marketing students are often shocked to learn how difficult it is to - well - market marijuana. Advertising medical cannabis is essentially banned in Canada, with some exceptions. Restrictions on recreational weed are set to be a bit looser, but Brown still advises students to think of the constraints as opportunities. "These limitations can really aid in creativity. Marketing weed isn't difficult, but marketing a highly regulated cannabis product is a lot more of a challenge," said Brown, an instructor in Kwantlen Polytechnic University's cannabis professional series. [continues 905 words]
KITCHENER - At gatherings with family and friends, it's common for people to sit and chat as they enjoy a glass of wine. Drinking alcohol is legal and regulated by the government, but too much of it causes impairment and your long-term health could be at risk. The same could be said for marijuana. The now illicit drug will soon be legal, regulated and sold by the government. Smoking it daily could lead to a dependency, healthcare professionals say. But the stigma associated with dope smoking remains. [continues 749 words]
WATERLOO REGION - The public school board is considering stocking every school with an emergency kit to fight drug overdoses, at the cost of $119,000 per year. Kits contain the medication naloxone. By injection or nasal spray, it temporarily reverses the effects of an overdose of an opioid drug such as fentanyl or heroin. Currently, local schools are to call 911 if an overdose is suspected. "If that was my child I would want someone to do something," trustee Cindy Watson said, after pressing the Waterloo Region District School Board to buy overdose kits and train staff to use them. [continues 465 words]
MONTREAL - McGill University law professor Daniel Weinstock says he heartily recommends his students take up criminal law in order to take advantage of the country's new, strict cannabis laws. "There is going to be a steady stream of customers," Weinstock said, referring to the influx of people he estimates will be moving through the justice system. The professor's comments were partly made in jest but serve to illustrate a larger point: upcoming marijuana laws - in response to domestic and U.S. politics - will be a boon for lawyers. [continues 487 words]
Re: Hazards of cannabis - Nov. 11 Thanks to Ron Wagner for his informative letter regarding marijuana. We taxpayers have spent billions of dollars through the government ads regarding the dangers of smoking. I have lost two members of my family to lung cancer, both heavy smokers of filter-tip cigarettes. The advertising has worked and very few cigarette butts litter our streets. However, when money is spent foolishly, a source of income must be found. The sale of marijuana will help. Lloyd Mundy Waterloo [end]
