Since opening on Somerset Street West last week, a medical marijuana dispensary has attracted both controversy and a flurry of interested clients. These are people such as Cheryl Angenent, who can tell you the date of her life-altering car accident without taking a beat. It was Aug. 23, 1989. She was 18 years old. "I had multiple skull fractures, broken neck, broken back, broken legs, and broken feet," she recalled, as she stood outside the newly opened Greater Ottawa Health Advocacy Centre. [continues 497 words]
A recent fact-finding trip to Europe by members of the Somerset West Community Health Centre has inspired new discussions among community organizers about safe injection sites in Ottawa. Two board members and an employee from the centre visited four cities in Germany and the Netherlands last fall to research supervised safe injection sites, says the centre's executive director, Jack McCarthy. The centre paid for the trip using leftover reserve money from donors. None of the funds came from major funders such as the city or from the Champlain Local Health Integration Network. [continues 397 words]
Researchers behind a four-year scientific study have recommended the establishment of two safe injection sites for Ottawa that they say would help drug users and reduce drug use in the capital. Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi and Dr. Carol Strike presented the findings of the Toronto and Ottawa Supervised Consumption Assessment last week. The researchers participated in a panel discussion with representatives of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa and the Drug Users Advocacy League, as part of Ottawa AIDS Awareness Week. [continues 527 words]
Researchers behind a four-year scientific study have recommended the establishment of two safe injection sites for Ottawa which they say would help drug users and reduce drug use in the capital. Dr. Ahmed Bayoumi and Dr. Carol Strike presented the findings of the Toronto and Ottawa Supervised Consumption Assessment on Thursday evening. The researchers participated in a panel discussion with representatives of the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa and the Drug Users Advocacy League, as part of Ottawa AIDS Awareness Week. [continues 645 words]
Discarded needles in public washrooms are a dangerous problem, and local businesses are doing something about it. Last month, the Tim Hortons at Bank and Cooper streets put biohazard disposal bins in their bathrooms after employees saw needles in the garbage and feared they would prick someone. But this is not an isolated incident. Sarah MacNeil, a Clarence Street Second Cup employee, said she constantly finds drug paraphernalia in the bathrooms. "We have this problem daily," she said. MacNeil described finding used needle tips, syringes and marijuana. She has also found dirty drug spoons hidden in fluorescent ceiling lights and a bag of drugs in a ceiling vent. [continues 534 words]
It's unlikely for homebuyers to see toxic mould build-up and potential fire hazards listed as features in real estate ads. But Ottawa officials want this information disclosed to reduce not only the threat to a homebuyer's health, but to their wallet. Ottawa Real Estate Board president-elect Rick Snell is spearheading the effort to reveal the locations of dismantled marijuana grow-op houses and drug labs to potential homebuyers. Snell said the board has been working for three years on ways to disclose the information and together with city and police initiatives has succeeded in having former grow-op addresses published. [continues 612 words]
OTTAWA -- March 2, 2007 -- An international think-tank says Canada should help improve Afghanistan's rural development by legitimizing the country's booming opium trade. A year's income for an Afghan farmer. Canada's leading role in Afghanistan's reconstruction means it can be an important player in the licensing of the opium trade, especially as it becomes increasingly clear that poppy eradication is not the solution to the problem of opium production in Afghanistan, according to the Senlis Council. [continues 885 words]
A community safety group is pushing for Ontario to follow the lead of several other provinces and pass tough legislation that will hold landowners accountable for criminal activities taking place on their property. "It takes just one crack house in the neighbourhood to threaten the entire community's safety," says Stephanie Strudwick, chair of Concerned Citizens for Safer Neighbourhoods. "This is another tool to keep residents safe by giving landowners more power but also more responsibility." Strudwick is leading the charge to have Ontario implement the Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act (SCAN), a program already implemented in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Yukon. [continues 539 words]
Teachers and students are reacting with shock to Bob Chiarelli's claim that 40 to 60 per cent of the city's student body could be smoking pot during the course of the school day. While police and principals are waiting until the municipal election is over to comment, studies, and student estimates, indicate Chiarelli's numbers are much higher than reality. When pressed on the source of the numbers, Chiarelli told CTV that he received the information from a vice-principal who was apparently talking about one particular day at their school. The school was later identified as John McCrae High School in Barrhaven. [continues 490 words]
It was a textbook Conservative play. Before Parliament even opened last Monday, Stephen Harper was giving a speech to a group of police officers, vowing that his government would get tough on crime. So while Michaelle Jean was delivering her consensus-building Speech from the Throne that afternoon, Harper could rest easy knowing he had done his bit to re-affirm some classic Conservative values. Some of Harper's agenda on crime makes sense. Toughening up the conditions on parole, for instance, is a good idea. But the prime minister's drug policy needs a lot of work. [continues 831 words]
Ottawa is creating a new plan to help tackle a growing drug problem with high rates of HIV and Hepatitis C infection among intravenous drug users. The Integrated Drugs and Addiction Strategy, introduced by Mayor Bob Chiarelli in 2005, will co-ordinate agencies across the city to help deal with substance abuse. The strategy hopes to combine many of the city's social resources and community agencies, such as the police, public health and addiction specialists. The goal is that they will work together to develop a comprehensive strategy to fight the war on drugs. [continues 529 words]
Ottawa's new drug treatment program is no "easy ride," said Ontario Court Justice Peter Wright in an interview with Centretown News. Wright, who presides over the court alongside Justice Judy Beaman, said some offenders have chosen jail over treatment. "Some people say this is something they want to try. Other people have said they'd rather go to jail. It's too much of a commitment, it's too much work, and they say 'sentence me to jail,' " Wright said. [continues 612 words]
The city's health agency will soon be telling teens not to "drug and drive" through a $346,000 citywide marketing blitz. City officials say Ottawa is the first city in Canada to craft a youth-based social marketing message on the issue of smoking marijuana and driving, and that lessons learned in Ottawa could be a model for the rest of Canada. The campaign, called "Drugged Driving Kills," will be launched in April. Ottawa Public Health, with Carlington Community and Health Services, is developing a grassroots message where youth will design posters, bus ads and radio spots in five languages--English, French, Somali, Chinese and Arabic. Tom Scholberg, the health promoter for youth at Carlington, says the advertisements are likely to take on a style similar to Ottawa's "expose" anti-smoking ads on the OC Transpo system. The expose campaign is a youth-led tobacco awareness program. Current posters use the theme "Unmask the Tobacco Industry," where a face is pulled away to reveal a yellow-toothed, money-grabbing tobacco executive. [continues 630 words]
Marijuana Party candidate John Akpata doesn't mince words. The poet-turned-political hopeful is blunt when sizing up his competition in Ottawa Centre. "Let's be real. You can't vote for the Liberals because they're the sponsorship gang. You can't vote for the Conservatives because they are Texas in Canada," Akpata said. "You can't vote for the Green Party because in the future they will sell you sunshine, charge you for water, tax you for wind." [continues 413 words]
Ottawa's Site needle exchange program will start distributing crack equipment to drug users next month in an attempt to curb skyrocketing rates of Hepatitis C among addicts. Beginning April 1, crack smokers will be able to receive clean glass stems, mouthpieces, and safe inhalation information from various locations in Centretown. Paul Lavigne, co-ordinator of the program, says the initiative focuses on education and encourages safer drug use. "We're going to teach people how to use the products as opposed to the ones they are currently using, and we're going to educate people how to reduce their harm so they don't end up with burnt lips and open sores," he says. [continues 455 words]
Ottawa's only detox centre has a new lease on life for at least six more months while negotiations take place about its future. The Ottawa Withdrawal Management Centre, which was scheduled to close Oct.1, has an extended deadline until March while negotiations take place with the ministry of health. Montfort Hospital is a likely sponsor of the centre. "It's a relief," says Virginia Hamilton, director of the detox centre. "The parties are working very hard to reach an agreement while we stay afloat temporarily." [continues 428 words]
Despite community fears and a flurry of protest during the summer, Ottawa Police haven't received any formal public complaints about a methadone clinic in Somerset Ward since its opening in late June. "So far, no complaints have come on my desk," says Sgt. Kim Cooper of the Centretown Community Police Centre. The clinic is one of 20 throughout the province run by Ontario Addiction Treatment Centres and is located beneath a seniors' residence at 401 Somerset St. W. The clinic administers methadone cocktails to help stabilize individuals addicted to drugs such as heroin and opium. [continues 431 words]
Some drug addicts trying to get into methadone programs in Ottawa are being turned away or placed on wait lists. This may put them back on the street. "We're running at full capacity," says Rejeanne Cuerrier, director of the Ste. Anne Medical Centre, which has a methadone program with 60 patients. "We have at least 15 people on the wait list, but sometimes these people disappear," she says. Once back on the street, they may resort to theft and other crimes to fund their addictions. [continues 504 words]
Ottawa's detox centre has avoided a temporary shutdown planned for December, but a shortage of funds may still force it to close for a month next March. The Ottawa Withdrawal Management Centre, which helps addicts cope with the pain and illness of alcohol and drug withdrawal, was scheduled to close at the end of the year to recover a $41,700 budget shortfall. But two weeks ago, the centre's management postponed the closure as discussions with the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care showed signs of progress, says Virginia Hamilton, the manager of the detox centre. [continues 537 words]
Councillor Alex Munter is asking provincial Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to put his money where his mouth is and give Ottawa's detox centre its first funding increase in 10 years. Flaherty came under attack last month after stating homeless people with drug or alcohol problems "pose a danger to themselves and others" and said extra police would be hired to ensure that the homeless have other alternatives to living on the streets, such as crisis shelters, hospitals or even jail. He said he also wants to provide treatment for those who are mentally ill or battling addictions. [continues 412 words]
