from: the Globe and Mail

Just weeks before the spotlight hits Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, a landmark medical study is set to begin, drawing attention to the one class of Vancouverites that the city doesn’t want to showcase: heroin addicts.

The four-year trial will provide 322 chronic addicts at a private Vancouver clinic with heroin or a legal substitute opiate, Hydromorphone.

“This could revolutionize heroin treatment internationally,” said Trish Walsh, executive director of the InnerChange Foundation. “It’s exciting to start this before the Olympics; we think it’s a great opportunity treat the root cause of homelessness in the Downtown Eastside.”
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A Manitoba couple who won a CA$50 million (US$46.7 million) lottery jackpot in the Nov. 6 Canada Lotto Max drawing are sharing the wealth with their Sagkeeng First Nation community.

Kirby and Marie Fontaine have outfitted a hockey team and set their sights on a hot meal program at a school on Sagkeeng First Nation, about 100 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg, following their Lotto Max win.

Claude Guimond, coach of the newly formed Sagkeeng 69s, said Kirby approached him shortly after the lottery win and suggested they put together a hockey team and hold a hockey tournament in memory of his late father.

Guimond, also the principal of the Sagkeeng Jr. High School, then rounded up 19 players who range in age from 16 to 40. They were transported in seven vans to Royal Sports on Pembina Highway in Winnipeg where they were outfitted with $50,000 worth of new equipment courtesy of the Fontaines.

“The reaction was just everyone was shocked — that he was willing to outfit the team, from top to bottom with top-of-the-line new gear. Everyone was floored,” said Guimond, whose 21-year-old son is also on the team.

Guimond said Kirby put one stipulation on the team members: that they be role models in the community — drug and alcohol free.

“The only thing Kirby asked of the boys was for them to lead a good life. Make good choices. Stay away from the alcohol and drugs, and give your old equipment away,” said Guimond.

Another resident from Sagkeeng said the Fontaines have done a number of good deeds since acquiring the winnings, such as purchasing furnished homes for their family members and beginning the planning stages of a daycare on the reserve. They have also been behind plans of a new recreational complex for youth.

The tournament is being planned for mid-March.

As well, the Fontaines have been making inquiries at a local school to take over the hot lunch program. According to school staff, the couple have said they don’t want anyone in the community to go hungry.

The school doesn’t want to be named until the Fontaines are ready to make the official announcement.

from the Selkirk Journal

Students and staff at the Comp were recognized for their efforts to educate kids about the dangers of drugs and alcohol earlier this week.

Representatives from the school, along with current and former students involved in organizing the Addictions Awareness Week, accepted the provincial Award of Distinction award on Nov. 16.

The award is handed out annually by the Manitoba Addictions Awareness Week (MAAW) committee to an individual or organization (including schools) for their outstanding work in raising awareness surrounding substance abuse, gambling, and other related issues. (continue reading…)

from the Cochrane Times

It took Marty Wildman a near-death car crash to beat his addiction to alcohol.

As part of National Aboriginal Addictions Awareness Week (Nov. 16-20) Wildman hoped by speaking out about his personal struggles with addiction he might prevent others from following down a similar path.

“It’s OK to be sober and live a sober life,” said Wildman, a member of the Chiniki First Nation.

He helped organize a 40-minute walk from Chief Chiniki Restaurant off the TransCanada Hwy to the Wesley Elders Lodge in the Morley townsite. It was the first time that all three Nations had banded together to do one unified walk, which ended a week of addiction awareness workshops and activities for the Stoney Nakoda First Nations community.

“This whole walk is just a celebration of people’s sobriety and to bring awareness throughout the community. We might be a small group, but it’s a start,” said Wildman. (continue reading…)

Last week was Addictions Awareness Week in Saskatchewan. The Government of Saskatchewan website states that, “Saskatchewan Addictions Awareness Week offers a chance for communities to play a role in addressing alcohol and drug use, and gambling addiction”.

Like many other designated awareness weeks throughout the year, this one is very important. It addresses issues that people don’t often talk about freely, but that are immense problems in many communities.

In Meadow Lake there were several activities planned for Addictions Awareness Week, although they were mainly planned through local schools. (continue reading…)

from the NATIONAL POST

In a nutshell: HR thinks shaming and blaming addicts is cruel and unfair. TL thinks shaming and blaming addicts is the only way to open their eyes wide enough to their own selfishness and degradation to push them into recovery. Read the “compassionate” Maté book, then see the “tough” Intervention, and then tell me: Which would you choose for someone you love?

Everybody — informed or otherwise — has an opinion on addiction and how to treat it, so the subject never fails to generate animated public debate.

The literature on addiction is voluminous. Any amateur researcher trying to get a handle on the constant outpouring of medical, governmental and ideologically-tuned advocacy literature (both for and against legalization of drugs) will find it a daunting and confusing business. I have tried, so I know.

In the end it’s pretty simple. Everyone agrees addiction takes a terrible human and societal toll. It’s what to do about it that polarizes us. Opinion invariably drifts toward one of two basic camps, depending on one’s view of human nature. (continue reading…)

By Tim Schneider, Opinion Staff

As some of you may know, last week was Addictions Awareness Week. Addiction is a very serious issue, and so this week, I want to bring awareness to an addiction that has many young students hooked, especially during exam time. I’m not talking about Ritalin or Adderall — those cravings make sense if you want to do well in school. No, I’m talking about Facebook.

I want to start by giving you all a window into my own battle with this fixation: I tried kicking my habit a few weeks ago, cold turkey. I got through the morning alright, but as the afternoon crept around, I began to feel sick. My hands scratching and beginning to sweat, I knew I needed just a quick fix to get me through the day. Head pounding, I walked through the Rutherford atrium, trying not to betray my sense of urgency and bolted up the stairs to the quiet study on the second floor.

I ducked into the computer lab in the back, pleased to find it empty. It’s there that I got my hookup, updating my Facebook status: “Tim Schneider is … happy ” I sighed with relief, euphoric as those beautiful little endorphins flooded through my system. After that moment of weakness, I relapsed and I must confess I haven’t been able to shake it since. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. (continue reading…)

We are so pleased to report that this year the NAAAW campaign office received 165 applications for 30 community event grants! In addition, we have received over 500 requests for promotional items from First Nations and Inuit communities across Canada. What an amazing demonstration of the commitment from our communities to celebrate healthy lifestyles, honour community role models and LIVE THE GOOD LIFE!

Last week the NAAAW team had the extremely difficult task of reading and rating the 165 applications for community grants. If we could – we would have funded almost everyone one. It was awe-inspiring to witness all of the creativity and enthusiasm that these communities have for NAAAW week. We would like to share with you the criteria that we used to rate the applications:

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We were fortunate to speak with the good people from Hay River Drug Strategy and they let us know about their free downloadable posters, resources and most importantly their Drug Strategy.

Their Drug Strategy is open for all to see and, maybe, emulate!? What if everyone followed an actual strategy outlined like this? click HERE to see it (PDF).

If your community also has a Drug Strategy, let us know!

taken from: CBC

A new report says people employed in Canada’s oil and natural gas industry are seeking help for alcohol dependency in extremely high numbers and face working conditions that put extraordinary stress on families.

The study by the Shepell.fgi Research Group says in the past three years the number of energy industry employees seeking counselling for drinking problems was up 481 per cent.
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