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JANUARY 15, 2014
Guitarist Oscar Lopez coming to Key City Theatre | Page 2
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Vol. 63, Issue 10
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Changes to methadone formula coming Feb. 1 Doctors, pharmacies, agencies scrambling to get the word out to clients
BAR RY CO ULTER
Changes are coming in B.C. to a synthetic drug that is widely used to help recovering addicts. And doctors, pharmacies and agencies who help those
who use it are scrambling to get the word out. Methadone helps people who are dependent on or addicted to
other drugs like morphine and heroin. As of Feb. 1, 2014, the current methadone formula given out by pharmacists will change. British
Columbia will transition to a new methadone formula, called Methadose, which is expected to provide a safer, more consistent
treatment for patients. But methadose will have 10 times the strength of the current formula. Almost 15,000 peo-
ple in B.C. are on methadone programs — prescribed by physicians and dispensed at pharmacies. Locally, the East Kootenay Addic-
SUBMITTED
Bill Bennett (centre), Kootenay East MLA and Minister of Energy and Mines and Minister Responsible for Core Review, on Tuesday joined Gavin Dirom (centre, right), President and CEO of the Association for Mineral Exploration British Columbia, to open the Toronto Stock Exchange. On Monday, Bennett met with various federal ministers in Ottawa to discuss Taseko Mines Limited’s proposed New Prosperity mine. See more in Thursday’s Daily Townsman.
Invermere man died of hypothermia The Crown introduces the events that led to Brian Panebianco’s manslaughter trial, now underway in Cranbrook SALLY MACDONALD Townsman Staff
Cory Jarock died of hypothermia after being kicked out of a house party in Invermere in April 2012, according to the prosecution in the trial of Brian
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Panebianco. The 25-year-old Invermere man is charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence causing death, robbery and assault causing bodily harm in the death of 31-year-old Jarock, who
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was found deceased April 3, 2012 in the driveway of a home in Invermere’s Tunnacliffe Heights neighbourhood. The two-week trial got underway Tuesday, Jan. 14 in Cranbrook Supreme Court before Justice Kenneth
Ball and a 14-person jury, including two alternates. Crown prosecutor Lynal Doerksen began the evidence by addressing the jury.
See JAROCK, Page 3
• EAST KOOTENAY REGIONAL HOSPITAL
Dec. 23 Robyn & Ryan Rasmussen of Cranbrook, a boy Dec. 24 Christine Evans & Colin Blumer of Cranbrook, a boy Dec. 25 Jaylene Knight & Mike Luke of Cranbrook, a girl Dec. 30 Jessie & Kyle Oakes of Kimberley, a boy
tion Services Society (EKASS) in Cranbrook says it has about 90 methadone clients come through its office — though that doesn’t represent all clients in the region. And the changes are a cause for concern, in that methadone users may not be aware of the vastly increased strength of the new formula. “There hasn’t been much notification about this,” said Dean Nicholson, Executive Director of EKASS. “And the risk we see is because the volume of medication the people will be receiving will be increasing on a 10 to one basis. “Typically, when methadone users — or illicit methadone users; people on the street who might be getting it — they’re thinking of it in terms of millilitres instead of milligrams. If they’re buying it on the street, they’re saying, ‘I’m not getting as much liquid as I normally would,’ and they might then throw more in there. But they’re actually getting a much higher dosage of the actual drug, which puts them at risk for overdose and death. “And, obviously, the illicit street users are not going to be getting the education that hopefully people are going to be getting through supervised dispenser sites.”
See CHANGES, Page 3
Jason Wheeldon
Personal Real Estate Corporation
250-426-8211
East Kootenay Realty