This just in: Toronto is trying to find a way to supervised injection to help save lives.
TORONTO – Liz Evans, Executive Director of the PHS Community Services Society which operates Vancouver’s Insite, North America’s first and only supervised injection facility will be hosting a public forum at 7 PM September 15, at Toronto City Hall. Everyone is Welcome.
On the table for discussion will be how other cities like Toronto can learn from Vancouver’s experiences in reducing drug related harm to individuals and the whole community.
“The tragic consequences of addiction are a serious concern for all Canadians, and a challenge for Canadian cities grappling with death, disease and public disorder caused by drug use,” said Evans. “After 6 years of Insite’s operation, we have accumulated over 40 scientific evaluations and reports, that would be useful for other cities, like Toronto, as they develop a comprehensive approach to dealing with addiction."
Providing users a clean safe place to inject drugs under the supervision of nurses, Insite has been proven to prevent drug overdose deaths, reduce the spread of disease, limit public disorder, and move more people into Detox and addiction treatment.
Despite more than 40 academic papers and reports Stephen Harper continues to ignore the evidence and remains unsupportive of Insite’s ongoing life-saving work. Currently Harper’s government is attempting to appeal a BC Supreme Court decision, which allows Insite to continue to operate citing section 7 of Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms - protecting life and security of the person.
“BC Supreme Court Justice Ian Pitfield’s judgment recognized that the primary health care provided at Insite is vital” said Evans. “There is a broad consensus among doctors, public health officials, and scientists that addiction is a complex, chronic, and relapsing disease, and that Vancouver’s injection site is only one tiny piece, but an important piece, of the puzzle, of how we as a Society attempt to treat this serious illness humanely."
-30-
More Information Please contact:
Mark Townsend 604-720-3050, PHS Community Services Society
Nathan Allen 604-833-0748, Insite for Community Safety
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=124858020501
Monday, September 14, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Are All Small Towns Equal?
I just spent almost 3 weeks in a small Saskatchewan town. That was an eye-opener! First I encountered some severely racist attitudes...particularly toward Aboriginal Peoples, then a kind of closed-mindedness to many things progressive. First, the "Indians" were compared to animals in that you can't 'teach em anything, they're too wild'. WOW! Was I in Canada still? The other thing I noticed - particularly on coffee row - was that many people tend to take a personal anecdotal occurrence and make it the rule in society. Never mind that their experience might be the exception to the rule or that they may have not had all the information. Now, I know that this kind of thing happens everywhere - in fact, i remember it happening in a conversation with some "progressive" friends at Christmas regarding our privilege as white, middle-class people in our society. But I digress....
Of course, even as I write this I realize that I am using anecdotal evidence to generalize across rural prairie towns. But it was so striking. Nobody talked about what the trends were or stats or studies. Even the talk show host out of Saskatoon constantly uses anecdotal evidence to support his (mostly) right-wing rants against climate change, taxation, social program spending etc.
I can't help but draw a comparison to the small town in BC that I have been in since four yesterday afternoon - Fernie, BC. When driving through the prairies, I was hard-pressed to find a coffee shop - local or otherwise - with wifi. Here in Fernie, there are 5 in walking distance! As I sit in the Cincott Organic Market and Cafe and eavesdrop on the conversations around me, I haven't noticed the same kind of prejudices in the conversations. Perhaps I'm biased. Perhaps I need to be sitting in a different kind of coffee shop. Perhaps we just have lots of work to do across our great nation to dispel those kinds of attitudes.
Right now, I don't want to go anywhere else. The organic Moroccan soup is too good.
Of course, even as I write this I realize that I am using anecdotal evidence to generalize across rural prairie towns. But it was so striking. Nobody talked about what the trends were or stats or studies. Even the talk show host out of Saskatoon constantly uses anecdotal evidence to support his (mostly) right-wing rants against climate change, taxation, social program spending etc.
I can't help but draw a comparison to the small town in BC that I have been in since four yesterday afternoon - Fernie, BC. When driving through the prairies, I was hard-pressed to find a coffee shop - local or otherwise - with wifi. Here in Fernie, there are 5 in walking distance! As I sit in the Cincott Organic Market and Cafe and eavesdrop on the conversations around me, I haven't noticed the same kind of prejudices in the conversations. Perhaps I'm biased. Perhaps I need to be sitting in a different kind of coffee shop. Perhaps we just have lots of work to do across our great nation to dispel those kinds of attitudes.
Right now, I don't want to go anywhere else. The organic Moroccan soup is too good.
Monday, July 06, 2009
Mommy Addiction
I have been wondering what to write about. It occurs to me that there are so many things that can take up this space - food security, Canadian foreign policy, comment on BC's Health Minister saying it's OK to have private billing....the list goes on. But today, I opened my email to the Globe and Mail and started reading an article on 'the new mommy'. Those women that are recent moms (like in the last 10-15 years) and what they are now doing to cope with the hard work of motherhood.
So, lets be clear. I have no idea what it means to be a mother. I suspect that my own dadhood is no where near as difficult as motherhood. I didn't really see it at the time, but my kids mom went through hell in becoming a new mom. Cut off in many ways from adult contact, rarely doing things in the day that would be considered "stimulating" - endless loads of laundry, breast feeding, reading and playing, breast feeding, soothing the child, breast feeding....you get the picture. And now, 12 years later my sister had a child. This independent woman turned into a wide-eyed, house-bound crazy woman! Gawd, I'm glad I'm a man!!!!
So I was very interested to read this article. That there are moms out there that take time to themselves and with their friends is refreshing. Of course, the author has to quote professionals that warn against alcohol consumption - particularly for those that are "predisposed" to alcoholism. This is precisely the kind of thinking that our current policy on drugs and the "war on drugs" is based on.
In the 1970's, psychologist Bruce K. Alexander and his colleagues at Simon Fraser University conducted experiments using rats and morphine - kind of like B.F. Skinner did in the 1950's. Our current drug policy and our understanding of addiction is based on these experiments by Skinner. He would place a rat in a box and feed it all the morphine it wanted. As expected, the rat would become hopelessly addicted. Alexander changed it up a bit. he placed the rats in their natural environment - in a colony with all their needs met: food, hiding places, toys water and....plenty of morphine. Curiously, the rats would try the morphine from time to time but none of them became addicted. This was a problem. So they put the rats in Skinner boxes and made them addicts. When they went back to rat park, they detoxed themselves and would continue to occasionally use morphine but never became re-addicted!
Many of us medicate ourselves for various reasons. We have been doing it for time immemorial. These experiments are essential in our understanding of addiction. The rats in rat park were using morphine recreationally - like going out for a drink with friends. It wasn't until their environment severely stressed them in the Kinner box that they actually medicated themselves to relieve the emotional pain that they became addicted. None of them were "predisposed" to addiction and the drug itself (known to become "addicting") made them addicted.
So back to the moms. Moms deal with extremely stressful environments. Some are even painful. So though I agree that some of these moms could be joking about alcohol to cover up an addiction, it is not because they are "predisposed" to it. It is because they are trying to cope with stress, pain, isolation and unstimulation, often with very little support (yes dad's, get your ass in gear and contribute to at least half of the housework!). So lets give a shout out to all those moms out there living with the toughest job in the world. And let them know that there are ways to cope with their environmental stressors other than self-medicating.
And while your at it, check out these awesome websites:
http://momswhodrinkandswear.com/Home.html
http://junecleaverafterasix-pack.blogspot.com/
http://www.whymomdrinksrum.net/
So, lets be clear. I have no idea what it means to be a mother. I suspect that my own dadhood is no where near as difficult as motherhood. I didn't really see it at the time, but my kids mom went through hell in becoming a new mom. Cut off in many ways from adult contact, rarely doing things in the day that would be considered "stimulating" - endless loads of laundry, breast feeding, reading and playing, breast feeding, soothing the child, breast feeding....you get the picture. And now, 12 years later my sister had a child. This independent woman turned into a wide-eyed, house-bound crazy woman! Gawd, I'm glad I'm a man!!!!
So I was very interested to read this article. That there are moms out there that take time to themselves and with their friends is refreshing. Of course, the author has to quote professionals that warn against alcohol consumption - particularly for those that are "predisposed" to alcoholism. This is precisely the kind of thinking that our current policy on drugs and the "war on drugs" is based on.
In the 1970's, psychologist Bruce K. Alexander and his colleagues at Simon Fraser University conducted experiments using rats and morphine - kind of like B.F. Skinner did in the 1950's. Our current drug policy and our understanding of addiction is based on these experiments by Skinner. He would place a rat in a box and feed it all the morphine it wanted. As expected, the rat would become hopelessly addicted. Alexander changed it up a bit. he placed the rats in their natural environment - in a colony with all their needs met: food, hiding places, toys water and....plenty of morphine. Curiously, the rats would try the morphine from time to time but none of them became addicted. This was a problem. So they put the rats in Skinner boxes and made them addicts. When they went back to rat park, they detoxed themselves and would continue to occasionally use morphine but never became re-addicted!
Many of us medicate ourselves for various reasons. We have been doing it for time immemorial. These experiments are essential in our understanding of addiction. The rats in rat park were using morphine recreationally - like going out for a drink with friends. It wasn't until their environment severely stressed them in the Kinner box that they actually medicated themselves to relieve the emotional pain that they became addicted. None of them were "predisposed" to addiction and the drug itself (known to become "addicting") made them addicted.
So back to the moms. Moms deal with extremely stressful environments. Some are even painful. So though I agree that some of these moms could be joking about alcohol to cover up an addiction, it is not because they are "predisposed" to it. It is because they are trying to cope with stress, pain, isolation and unstimulation, often with very little support (yes dad's, get your ass in gear and contribute to at least half of the housework!). So lets give a shout out to all those moms out there living with the toughest job in the world. And let them know that there are ways to cope with their environmental stressors other than self-medicating.
And while your at it, check out these awesome websites:
http://momswhodrinkandswear.com/Home.html
http://junecleaverafterasix-pack.blogspot.com/
http://www.whymomdrinksrum.net/
Sunday, May 24, 2009
A Community Tried in the Fire
Community.
Often that term brings up some form of romantic imagery from the past - a small farming or fishing village; Little House on the Prairie kind of thinking. But really, community is a state of being. It is what we make it; where we find ourselves. Community is where people come together with common interest. That could be in a town, a service club, around an issue or through a sporting group.
Yesterday, I saw how a vacation/recreation property is a community. A group of us went for a hike in East Sooke Park, just west of Victoria. It was a beautiful day and we sat on shore part way through the hike to watch the Swiftsure Sailboat race. Very exciting. Afterwards, we stopped down the road at a marina/RV park to have a drink at the Smoking Tuna Cafe. Sitting on the patio enjoying the view and the company, my daughter pointed behind the cafe and asked what that smoke was from. It certainly didn't look like campfire smoke. And it wasn't.
The RV's at this place are not the kind that come and go. They are typically left there and people add on decks, rooms and cute little yards. In fact, my former spouse and I had a trailer there many years ago. It's a sweet little slice of heaven. The kids and others ran around the side of the cafe and started yelling to call 911. One of these little places was very quickly becoming fully invlolved in flames.
Everyone that was at thier trailers this weekend were running to help. I heard someone call for a first aid kit. I dug into my trunk to get mine. I went wandering around to try and find where it might be needed but couldn't locate anyone. I have to admit that I didn't look really hard. I could see my daugheter was extrememly distraught by the scene and I felt much more concern for her and my son than anyone else. I kept looking around and seeing that there were so many people pitching in to help; this community was really coming together to address the emrgency that was developing.
My friend Nathaniel was in there like a dirty shirt. I saw him pitching water and, later, helping with one of the victims while the paramedics worked. I went back to the water where the kids were waiting. They all looked in shock. I took them back to the deck of the cafe and settled them back down at the tables - by this time the cafe had closed down but seemed happy to have the kids sit there.
I went back up and by this time the fire trucks had arrived and put out the flames. It was burned to the ground. I went around the other side and found the paramedics working on the elderly man that was pulled from the fire by one of the community heros. He was hurt but appeared ok. Nathaniel was helping there. I helped the mans wife that was unhurt but panicking quite severely. She had someone from the community comforting her and I helped with the oxygen mask.
It was an incredible community effort. Both neighbouring RV's were spared through thier efforts, cars were dragged from danger and, most importantly, lives were saved! The professionals showed up in time to tie things up.
I was very impressed.
For pictures, go to Nathaniel's blog: www.loosemoorings.org
Often that term brings up some form of romantic imagery from the past - a small farming or fishing village; Little House on the Prairie kind of thinking. But really, community is a state of being. It is what we make it; where we find ourselves. Community is where people come together with common interest. That could be in a town, a service club, around an issue or through a sporting group.
Yesterday, I saw how a vacation/recreation property is a community. A group of us went for a hike in East Sooke Park, just west of Victoria. It was a beautiful day and we sat on shore part way through the hike to watch the Swiftsure Sailboat race. Very exciting. Afterwards, we stopped down the road at a marina/RV park to have a drink at the Smoking Tuna Cafe. Sitting on the patio enjoying the view and the company, my daughter pointed behind the cafe and asked what that smoke was from. It certainly didn't look like campfire smoke. And it wasn't.
The RV's at this place are not the kind that come and go. They are typically left there and people add on decks, rooms and cute little yards. In fact, my former spouse and I had a trailer there many years ago. It's a sweet little slice of heaven. The kids and others ran around the side of the cafe and started yelling to call 911. One of these little places was very quickly becoming fully invlolved in flames.
Everyone that was at thier trailers this weekend were running to help. I heard someone call for a first aid kit. I dug into my trunk to get mine. I went wandering around to try and find where it might be needed but couldn't locate anyone. I have to admit that I didn't look really hard. I could see my daugheter was extrememly distraught by the scene and I felt much more concern for her and my son than anyone else. I kept looking around and seeing that there were so many people pitching in to help; this community was really coming together to address the emrgency that was developing.
My friend Nathaniel was in there like a dirty shirt. I saw him pitching water and, later, helping with one of the victims while the paramedics worked. I went back to the water where the kids were waiting. They all looked in shock. I took them back to the deck of the cafe and settled them back down at the tables - by this time the cafe had closed down but seemed happy to have the kids sit there.
I went back up and by this time the fire trucks had arrived and put out the flames. It was burned to the ground. I went around the other side and found the paramedics working on the elderly man that was pulled from the fire by one of the community heros. He was hurt but appeared ok. Nathaniel was helping there. I helped the mans wife that was unhurt but panicking quite severely. She had someone from the community comforting her and I helped with the oxygen mask.
It was an incredible community effort. Both neighbouring RV's were spared through thier efforts, cars were dragged from danger and, most importantly, lives were saved! The professionals showed up in time to tie things up.
I was very impressed.
For pictures, go to Nathaniel's blog: www.loosemoorings.org
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Out of Touch
This week was astounding. On Monday, Canada shot itself into the very exclusive club of countries on the UN Human Rights Council opposed to peace on the Gaza Strip. It's so exclusive in fact, that Canada is the ONLY member. Canada was the only country to vote against the resolution to urge Israel to stop the bombing and to go back to the agreed ceasefire of last fall. You can read all about it here.
Even India, terrorized by radical Islamists in the Mumbai bombings, thought it was a significant move to support the resolution.
I think this is a continued signal from the Harper Conservatives that he wants to continue the failed policies of Geirge W Bush. Are they that out of touch with the majority of Canadians??
Even India, terrorized by radical Islamists in the Mumbai bombings, thought it was a significant move to support the resolution.
I think this is a continued signal from the Harper Conservatives that he wants to continue the failed policies of Geirge W Bush. Are they that out of touch with the majority of Canadians??
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