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Results and highlights from this week’s events. PAGE 24
FEATURE PROPERTY
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THURSDAY, MARCH 5, 2015
VOL. 26, NO. 86
Police monitor fentanyl deaths
Organizing begins for heritage event BY CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN
Morgan Carey, president and CEO of Real Estate Webmasters, is inviting the city and anyone else to support this year’s Victoria Day long weekend celebrations. Carey and a group of downtown businessmen, including Nanaimo Coun. Jerry Hong, have entered into a joint venture with the Snuneymuxw First Nation and other groups to create Heritage Days, which will replace the former Empire Days celebrations. To guarantee Heritage Days happen in 2015, Carey has put up $50,000 to finance a parade, fireworks and other events. “The first thing we dealt with is putting all the negativity of the past behind us. We’re celebrating Nanaimo and everyone’s heritage,” Carey said. Ever yone has a heritage, so the event will celebrate that and Nanaimo, said Carey. He noted that long-standing celebrations, such as Empire Days and Nanaimo Marine Festival, have waned in vitality over the years and he wants to revitalize the downtown celebratory spirit. Carey, in charge of Heritage Days marketing and fundraising, hopes other contributors will help offset costs. The budget is also higher than previous years. “We want a great event,” he said. “We want better talent, longer fireworks, more stations, more security, better insurance – all the things that matter and that takes some stepping up, I think.” Any budget surplus will be held in trust for future Heritage Days and current plans call for the working group to form a permanent society prior to 2016 celebrations. To donate, please take cheques or cash to Rewsters restaurant at 223 Commercial St. where staff will issue receipts. photos@nanaimobulletin.com
I
I’m studying to be a Buconologist
CENTRAL ISLAND accounts for higher percentage of overdose from potentially deadly cocktail. BY CHRIS BUSH THE NEWS BULLETIN
CHRIS BUSH/THE NEWS BULLETIN
Major distractions
Const. Denise Fraser barks commands, questions and math equations to Dylan Murphy, a Grade 10 Nanaimo District Secondary School student taking part in Distracted Driving, a joint event by Nanaimo RCMP, ICBC and Prevent Alcohol and Risk-Related Trauma in Youth, at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital Wednesday. Students had to negotiate a road course while answering questions and working out math equations on a calculator, which demonstrated the dangers of texting while driving.
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Central Vancouver Island is seeing a higher than average rate of overdose from a potentially deadly cocktail of drugs, according to the region’s medical health officer. Dr. Paul Hasselback, Island Health medical health officer for central Vancouver Island, said Nanaimo’s fentanyl overdose rate is higher than the provincial average. From October 2013 to November 2014 the drug was linked to 18 fatal overdoses in Nanaimo. “It’s more than 25 per cent here, but overall it’s 25 per cent on the Island… We certainly have been carrying the brunt, or seeing the majority, of the events associated with fentanyl on the Island,” Hasselback said. Fentanyl is a synthetic narcotic usually prescribed to kill pain, but is up to
100 times more toxic than other opiates. When mixed with other drugs, it is a deadly cocktail accounting for a high percentage of overdose fatalities in B.C. It can be concealed in almost any consumable product and is showing up in pill, liquid and powder form. Since 2012 fentanyl has been present in a steady provincewide rise in illicit drug overdose deaths, according to a Vancouver Police Department press release. The B.C. Coroners Service reports fentanyl was detected in about 25 per cent of more than 300 illicit drug overdose deaths in 2014, compared to five per cent in 2012. Overdoses are happening in all segments of society with Nanaimo, Vancouver and the Lower Mainland, Prince George, and Fort St. John reporting the most fatalities. See ‘FENTANYL’ /7
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