Mark EZW Made Easy

Mark ezw

[Music] [Music] I'm Glen McGinnis and welcome to outburst this week opioid addiction in Canada it's gone a lot worse than there's been a lot of political ineptitude how did it get so rampant in in the first place I would say that there's not enough being done about it it's just too big for any one level to deal with alone prescription opioids are safe nothing you buy anywhere else is safe and people are going to be addicted to drugs no matter what we do so let's just do it properly this common class of prescription has been causing enormous pain for police policymakers clinicians and Canadians I started with codeine t threes and turned into percocets percocets turned into hydromorphone Hajipur phone turn into fentanyl and all turn into heroin so last year nearly 4,000 people died from opioid related causes in Canada in 2016 that number was just over 3,000 there is a person dying every six hours n-b-c of an opiate overdose but something that that's taken years and decades in a sense to bill to the to the crisis that we're facing now sadly is not something that will be completely resolved overnight but I absolutely believe that we can and must change this and find a way that people will not be dying every single day across our country as a result of overdoses doctors have been increasingly prescribing opioids to treat chronic pain despite debate over its long term effects but experts having mastered University and the Canadian Medical Association say this uptick may be due to aggressive marketing and clinicians wanting to be more proactive Canada has the second highest opioid consumption rate in the world behind the u.s. this week a new rule for those on the front lines as of October 20th warning stickers must be applied to some forms of opioid drugs and a handout sheet is required for patients and families but education and awareness is still an uphill battle according to Statistics Canada 77% of Canadians are aware of opioids 51 percent would not recognize an overdose 10% do not know the dangers of mixing opioids with other medications and 7 percent of Canadians know how to obtain and use naloxone I think that all Canadians should know how to do this because if you come across someone who is having a crisis and it's more prevalent from what I understand in our younger members of society especially in the nova scotia area i think that them knowing this information would definitely be an asset for them helping other peers who may have an issue it depends I guess on how each individual feels about that whether they feel comfortable kind of having that responsibility but it would definitely be a good idea to have like the education and the the tools available for anybody who wants to be able to to help in situations like that just I have some medical background and I just think that the more people that know what to do in a situation like that and it seems to be rapid in the high schools so I think it would be a good thing I mean kids are experimenting you know kids are that can be kind of dumb we're all kind of dumb as we're teenagers you know it might what go to a party see a white powder think it's something other than it is and then you know easily there could be two overdose or you could be at a party where that could happen to a friend it's extremely important I think maybe high school students it's a bit young but I mean if high school students are using the drugs then they should know how to potentially help one of their peers well like obviously the opinion is that high school students shouldn't be required to deal with something like that but it's simply providing the basic information to the high school students because there are high school students using these products and overdosing on these products I think that information is important for everybody to have any kind of first aid that people can is always beneficial do we need people that are caring and you know understands that people make mistakes and you know we can change it's just they need to want to change they don't want to change then it's not much we can do for them yeah I think that's something that's good to know I know I got the training for it and it doesn't take that long it's like CPR it's information is power and it's something that can save someone's life of course our emergency services such as 9-1-1 but as far as cops appearing at the scene i don't think that should be a thing because like that generally scares people and i don't think people want to be charged when it comes to an overdose so like it's an iffy situation but if you ask me I'd say the paramedics and maybe the firemen but that's about it [Music] I was just wondering about the precautions to take when somebody overdoses because being a teenage in today's society there's a lot of drugs going around so it's kind of good to know those things before I go to post-secondary school I want to know all the risks and stuff about them before I jump right into partying and all that stuff I'm Jerome Sparks and I teach science 10 and physics 11 and also oceanography here at Harbor high school the precautions about drugs and then what actually happens and the consequences of doing drugs is very important for our students nowadays because a lot of students are in that phase that everything needs to be fun so everything is talking about recreational but you have to understand that a lot of stuff is physiologically and psychologically detrimental to some of the students health love the drugs are usually prescribed and so when you see prescription drugs you probably think oh it's safe you know people aren't overdosing or people ain't overusing it so I think by them having an awareness of some of the symptoms and some of the things that look out for in the trigger signs I think it's just a knowledge is gonna be key to them they're shown it different and that's the issue and we're not really aware that when we're going through middle school and someone says try this pill and we pop in next thing you know they want to do it the next day and the next day and the next day and the next day if we know all the facts one we have kids and all that stuff we can teach them younger than we got taught their stuff so they can grow up in a better life I feel like parents should know a lot of these facts too before their kids jump into high school what questions do you have about opioids in Canada I do know that there's a lot of addiction so why is the government making it potentially easier why don't we legalize it don't they have like a committee to stop this what services are available to help those who have addictions well why are doctors always prescribing pain meds that causes the addiction right my opinion yeah okay doctors to free you mean you there's other ways to treat people besides I'm indicting med say when are we going to really be serious about funding harm reduction strategies well I'd like to know whether or not Canada is equipped to deal with an opioid crisis on the level that America is experiencing at this time just how informed legislators are on the addictive qualities of different products and how bad the numbers really are for the addiction crisis that's going on in our country I wonder if they know and what they're doing about it I don't really know much about what can be done for people with opioid addictions like I don't know what's really being done other than I know there's safe injection sites some places but other than that you know if I had a if I had an opioid addiction I don't think I would know where to go or how to get help really so I guess my question is how would someone go about getting help how did it get to the point where it gets so easily into into people's hands and especially kids and adolescents hands so I would have liked to seen a bit more control around that but that would be my biggest question is how did it proliferate the way it did I just like to know how severe the problems are I suppose and what they look like in general cuz I don't even know what opiates looks like I guess my questions are about getting more specific information about where the problems are what demographics what age group what what the actual problem is we keep saying there's a problem but where is the problem is it a problem with young people is it a problem with older people is it a problem with really well-off people is a problem for people where is the actual problem what are the numbers [Music] there is simply so many people on the front lines of this crisis this includes doctors patients police policymakers advocates and addicts who are all scrambling to find a strategy and a solution to this problem since 2016 prescription rates are down for the most common opioids in every province except for Newfoundland and Labrador this includes codeine Hydra morphine oxycodone and fentanyl but addictions overdoses and the sheer volume of illegal opioids on the streets remains a growing problem my name's Logan Carroll I'm 25 years old and I was born and raised not one my struggling substitute started at a young age I was about 12 years old when it started I started using opiates by the age of 16 I started with a simple procedure I went in to get my wisdom teeth taken out and that escalated for the next 10 years it started with codeine t threes or turned into percocets percocets turned into hydromorphone hydromorphone turn into fentanyl and then all turned into heroin so drug abuse and substance use disorder took over my personal life in a very difficult way it started as something it was fun it was social when I started really heavily using when I was roughly about 19 I became an IV user and I was bathing a girl a really nice girl that fell prey to my addiction and I took advantage of her financially and otherwise it was my first indicator that addiction had taken over my life in a way that nobody mattered other than me I couldn't stop even if I wanted to I was physically dependent on these drugs that's how I got through the day that's how I coped you know I coped with my mental health by using drugs and it worked for a long time but at a certain point came along where it stopped working so I came into recovery in October 2016 and I chose to try abstinence based recovery which I used absolutely no drugs or alcohol whatsoever and I was sober for about ten months and when I relapsed I relapsed on a hybrid between heroin and fentanyl synthetic calm I did about 0.2 of a gram and I overdosed bad enough that I did revival I needed CPR for my girlfriend at the time she called the ambulance she gave me two narcan or naloxone cuts followed up by another two naloxone kits from the ambulance and then epinephrine thought I was perfectly content living the life I was living at that point you've seen a lot more realistic to continue living that than to quit drugs in the first place because my mind had got so twisted that I didn't think I could come back for it it seemed easier to continue to live the life I was living than get better but once I got a taste of recovery in 2016 I realized that I didn't need to live like that and there was a much better way to live what advice would I give somebody who's searching for help for me I had a hard time asking for help I had a hard time admitting that there was an issue if I was just to say anything it would be to reach out to somebody start with somebody talk about it with somebody you know a big part of what I do is connectivity you know get connected the people around you there's people in the world that who love you and it took me a long time to figure that out so I was in Toronto in September and there was a lot of ideas swirling around a big one was decriminalization they're looking to criminalize all drugs like Portugal did as far as I'm concerned I don't think that's a solution that'll happen anytime soon so for me opiate based replacement programs that they're introducing this year I mean suboxone methadone and there's a few others that are coming to light now they give you a chance to see what your life would look like without drugs you know you get to experience life again and be part of society and get back and integrated back into the world they should be decriminalized in the sense that a user shouldn't go to jail for using drugs but certainly if someone who's is selling drugs and dealing drugs and making drugs I think that should remain criminal that is what I think but then they shouldn't help anyone who does not take responsibility for what they do either either you either you live by your choices or else no I don't think that they're dangerous a lot of things are dangerous and they should be I don't know only given to people when they need them just open it up but have responsible areas centers for addictive individuals and and and try to be responsible as a society but we could put our resources to much better use I'm talking law enforcement without the drug factor I say open it up yes I'm not sure about all but the ones where you have an epidemic where people are dying I think that's a good indication that it's time to do something no I don't think so I think it would be too free and too easily available that I think it would be even worse than it is now decriminalization is of course an so goal and why do you think it do why do you think it would work well I'm from Holland and that's very sort of started with and well not I don't know what the word is but not it was not legalized but it was sort of okay and helped a lot to prevent criminal activities just cheaper things like stealing car radios and just to get some money that's what's no longer needed holy smokes we do want that open doors like oh here there's a store and your kid when they're just because I remember when I was 18 like you know in Manitoba here Oh drinking age I can go out and you know I can try it you know that could be the same for for drugs as well not for all kids but I would argue probably a subset of extra kids that wouldn't be doing it today would go do because it's legal right so what slippery slope does that creates criminalization really doesn't help the problem I don't think so they're probably better ways to deal with with it with these issues No because a lot of drugs have addicting traits and I don't think it leads to very good outcomes that's the main reason there's also I think there's reason to be scared of some drugs like I said this addictive traits from them we need harmful situations I don't think that the criminalization but you could good things absolutely not why what because I think there's just too many irresponsible people out there that would take advantage of that no actually we're out here for an addictions conference so we for the c-sam conference so we work with with drug and alcohol addictions in our community in London Ontario and I believe that there's a place for some decriminalization of certain recreational if you'll call them drugs but there's other drugs that I think that we need to have a you know make sure that there's a public understanding on just exactly how dangerous they are and that that there's a place for having them remain you know in a really restricted operative sense I'm wondering why we don't just legalize all drugs so that people aren't buying drugs from criminals and I think I look what they've done in Portugal it's been really good there other places where they've shown that decriminalize don't don't let criminals make money on people's misery so Portugal is the I guess the model that people keep to refer to so Portugal is different first off the police have a significant more power than we do here there is treatment on demand if a person is an addict they are referred to all the social services that they can get to stop their cycle of addiction and it's readily accept I think with all the differing political agendas I think it would be a hard stretch in Canada we are not a little country like Portugal were 5,000 miles across I think that it would be an incredible task to be able to make it work I would disagree with legalizing or decriminalizing anything more than what's already done I think we risk a lot that that we couldn't come back from my name is mark Stein camp I'm a director of understanding extensional I'm also a police officer in Vancouver I've been a police officer for 27 years but I don't speak as a police officer right now I speak as a concerned citizen and more importantly I speak as a concerned parent so we've seen hundreds of people die who are Street entrenched we've seen hundreds of people die who are recreational users people have died on the street people have died in their homes people have died they've they've gone to bed and their parents or their loved one find some dead in the morning that is a significant impact on our society now it's not just a british columbia issue or a canadian issue this is going through the United States and the rest of the world like a freight train so if British Columbia is the canary in the coalmine get ready because it's it's inevitable that what's happened in British Columbia will happen everywhere else the documentary itself is broken into three modules first one is about the drug itself the second module is based on the impact it's taxing body physically it's it's mentally draining and now I'm gonna get a call the impact is not just about emergency services providers about the police and ambulance and firefighters the impact is about families on August 2nd Jack in his friend stopped on Commercial Drive to buy a pill they split it in half one half went to my son one half went to his friend half of the tablet will result in a death of somebody and their friend that took the other half of the tablet may survive and Jack died on the park bench and Shelley park in Vancouver so this affects me as a parent I in a ways that I I never thought it would but how how could it not affect me in the way that it it has I have two sons a 23 year old an 18 year old when it comes to drugs educate your kids I've been talking to my kids since they can walk I share with them my genetic makeup my family's genetic makeup because some people say that that's an incredibly important part of whether you're gonna go down that road to addiction talk to your kids about about substance use and avoidance strategies it's it's okay you know the old Nancy Reagan just say no animal you know what you need to do now have knowledge say klw have knowledge about what's going into your body keep your kids active send them to bed tired if if you're if you're a good role model your kids are probably going to be okay British Columbia declared a public health emergency back in 2016 the province of British Columbia is alleging negligence and corruption against opioid manufacturers and is currently suing more than 40 pharmaceutical companies in hopes a reek claiming the costs of this opioid epidemic Ontario has allocated 200 million dollars for addiction treatment programs and Alberta has a special committee overseeing a strategy on harm reduction community awareness and supervised consumption sites each province has a slightly different focus and many different opinions on how to tackle this issue and now it's your turn how should government respond to the opioid epidemic I guess informing people because it's happening and if they're informing people they can handle with those situations better comes to regulating the medical community not the government's are the people who are using it illegally it's making sure that excess of this product isn't ending up on the streets it's not the fault of people that are using it to follow the people that regulate it they should have more more treatment facilities maybe treat people like humans instead of like animals locked up in a cage and I mean if you look at somebody with an addiction it's a choice that they made this is a disease that they're going through and if they want to get off it they can get off it but they need help and a lot of people won't help people like that because they think they're just a lost cause you know and it's not right we need we need more facilities we need more money for like programs to help people get off the streets get back into school get jobs get off drugs various other things you know that we need a lot more of that stuff for sure got'em I'm gonna say this way I think that they should have experts weigh in and whatever they say the government should follow supplying what's an eating supply the training and like I said maybe they should be looking into the doctors maybe should fall on them you know they should be the ones responsible put more money into us for helping people out and you know these people are sick people's we gotta help when you can legalization would be a definitely a good start safe injection houses should be expanded at the very least more awareness for one I guess let's be aware about it actually seek help get people to come out and recognize that they need help I think this is responsibility for everyone but the government if they try they just do some campaigns on it and they just try to enhance this multi-pronged approach from producing the supply of drugs that's coming into Canada reducing the demand for the drugs in Canada but also offering treatment to the people who are using drugs there are various replacement strategies to use drugs that are safer than than other drugs and street drugs well they should be letting everyone know I think decriminalizing drugs would be the first step and then looking into getting people help that need it through other avenues they should make sure that the doctors doesn't prescribe too much opioids well I think they need to legalize use because making it illegal is not a solution it actually increases use so if we do that then that's not helpful I believe that we need more safe injection sites and I believe as well that we need to really look at what kind of opiates are on the street I haven't heard enough about where this fentanyl is coming from and where car fentanyl is also coming from and I feel like we need to answer those questions as well that's specifically actually what my husband does in his line of work he's a physician and so what we're trying to do in our community for example is to create those opportunities for people to they're going to do it anyways so the people that are currently experimenting and then becoming addicted to opioids they're gonna do it anyways and a lot of times we've been turning a blind eye as a community to that and I believe what we need to do is just accept that that's going to happen and create an environment that's safe like safe injection sites but not just a place where they can just go and inject a place where they can go and receive the help and the counseling that they require in order to do that there's such a shame base associated with these addictions that I believe that we really need to be able to create an atmosphere of non judgment a place where they can feel safe to safely inject and that sometimes like they're doing in Vancouver in certain areas is that we actually provide them with a drug that's safe because with the car fentanyl and all the other mixed opioids if you will out there it's creating a huge burden not just to the patients and their families but to our system as a whole in healthcare so I think it's a huge question and there's a huge answer the answer that's associated with it and it's certainly something that we can't do within isolation until December 2018 you can have a say in how the federal government tackles opioid addiction a public consultation is underway looking for new ideas on tackling the substance abuse on our website you will find a link to the government's online survey and a place to share your story it's your turn to speak up [Music] I'm Glen McGinnis thanks for watching this episode of outburst on the cable Public Affairs Channel next week we'll be exploring canada's relationship with our neighbor to the south United States of America you can find us on social media or send us an email at L first at CPAC dot CA it's your turn to speak up and we'd love to hear from you [Music] [Music]