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NEWS
Nanaimo News Bulletin Tuesday, February 2, 2016
www.nanaimobulletin.com
University, coffee shop reach deal
Forum raises alarm over increase in drug use in Nanaimo area By Nicholas Pescod
By Karl yU
The News BulleTiN
The News BulleTiN
Police officers and medical professionals raised their concerns about an alarming trend related to illicit drug use in Nanaimo at a community forum last week. Held at Vancouver Island University on Jan. 28, the forum featured representatives from Island Health, the Nanaimo RCMP and the university, who spoke about the illicit drug situation in Nanaimo as well as the risks of overdosing and what people can do to save lives. The forum was organized in response to a recent surge in illicit drug overdoses and a growing fentanyl problem. It was also an opportunity for VIU staff to showcase take-home overdose kits, which are now available on campus. Speaking to a crowd of roughly 60 people, Griffin Russell, harm reduction coordinator for Island Health, said that while fentanyl has generated recent media attention, it is only a part of an illicit drug problem in Nanaimo and the rest of the province. “It is not just a fentanyl problem,” Russell said. “This is a illicit drug problem.” The number of illicit drug overdoses and fatalities related to drug overdoses in Nanaimo and in British Columbia has increased steadily in recent months. A c c o rd i n g t o FirEFighTErS iN surrey Island Health, Britand Vancouver will be ish Columbia had the first to carry kits to a total of 62 illicit administer naloxone to d r u g o v e rd o s e people suffering from fatalities in Decemopioid drug overdoses. ber, the most ever Fire departments recorded in a single across the province month. Meanwhile, can join the program by in Nanaimo there signing an agreement have been 14 overwith B.C. emergency doses, including health services to four fatalities, since provide physician the beginning of oversight, after regulaDecember, accordtions were changed to ing to the Nanaimo allow fire rescue first RCMP. responders to adminisFentanyl is traditer naxalone. tionally prescribed by doctors as a painkiller and is considered to be 100 times stronger than morphine. However, when sold on the street, fentanyl is sometimes mixed with other drugs such as oxycodone, heroin and cocaine, making it even more dangerous. Russell said he believed that most of the people overdosing on fentanyl are unaware that they are even taking fentanyl since it can be mixed in with a number of drugs, adding that it isn’t just people from low-income demographics who are being affected. “The majority of people that are getting fentanyl are greater than those who are taking it knowingly,” Russell said. “It is a wide spectrum of people who are using it. There are well-educated, well-employed people … and there those are who are in hard times in the lower socioeconomical status in Nanaimo.” Recently, VIU’s medical clinic became a dispensary site for take-home naloxone kits, which are used provide immediate life-saving assistance to someone experiencing an overdose from opioids such as fentanyl. Carrie Chassels, executive director for student affairs at VIU, said that it important for the university to spread the message about drug addiction and be a resource for students. “Having the medical clinic on campus is a really outstanding new development that is low risk for people to get their way in to somebody to connect them to the resources available,” she said.
Jumpin’ Java Coffee Express Ltd. and Vancouver Island University have settled a B.C. Supreme Court civil lawsuit out of court. Jumpin’ Java, a café on campus, filed the suit in November. It sought a declaration that the university breached its obligations to renegotiate a second renewal term of a food and beverage service licence, according to court documents obtained through B.C. Court Services. According to the café’s claim, it agreed with the university on a service licence for a new location on campus on July 2, 2004 for a five-year term until the end of August 2009. The café constructed new premises on campus in 2005 and relocated, which it said required sizable expenditures. The deal was amended in January 2005 to include two terms of renewal. The two parties agreed to a renewal that would run from Sept. 1, 2010 to last Aug. 31. Last April, the café sought another renewal, but a letter from the university, dated May 11, informed the café there wouldn’t be negotiations and that the university would terminate the deal. The coffee shop claims the university was aware it needed two renewals to make the investment in the venture viable, but the university denied that. In its response, the university asserted the café’s decisions to enter into agreements and spend money on the business were of its own accord. There wasn’t an agreement that the university would be liable for the café’s business. Tori Klassen, university director of public relations and communications, said the settlement was reached in the past two weeks. As part of the settlement, the café will operate on campus until April 29, 2017, she said. Klassen said she couldn’t give any other details because of the confidentiality of the settlement. When asked if any coffee chains would replace Jumpin’ Java, Klassen said the university hasn’t decided yet. “There’s been no plans firmed up of to who will be taking over that space once that lease expires. If you heard rumours to that effect, that’s what they were, they were just rumours,” said Klassen. Brian MacDonald, owner of Jumpin’ Java, didn’t want to comment. “We are in a settled contract situation and we are not privy to speak of it in any nature,” said MacDonald.
Quickfacts
reporter2@nanaimobulletin.com
NICHOLAS PESCOD/THE NEwS BuLLETIN
Deborah Beck, City of Nanaimo recreation coordinator, dons a superhero costume while holding a gift basket out front of Oliver Woods Community Centre. The north-end rec centre will be hosting the city’s fourth annual Family Play Day on Sunday (Feb. 7).
Superhero theme picked for family day activities
I
ParkS aND rEC hosts play day for kids.
By Nicholas Pescod The News BulleTiN
Superheroes of all ages are expected to take over a north-end recreation centre next month. On Sunday (Feb. 7), the City of Nanaimo will be hosting the fourth annual Family Play Day at Oliver Woods Community Centre, where there will be games and activities for the whole family including face-painting, balloons, bouncy castles, puppets, story time, Lego and crafts. This year the event
features a superheroes theme and as a result the city is encouraging children and their parents to dress up as their favourite super heroes. “We are going to have superhero training centre so that they can hone in on their superhero skills,” said Deborah Beck, the city’s recreation coordinator. Family Play Day activities are designed to get families playing more often during the darker and rainier months of the year, according to Beck. “We love seeing families playing together,” Beck said. “We are all so busy in our activities. I know it is just a day, but it is a day to get people
back on track.” Meanwhile on Family Day (Feb. 8), the Nanaimo Ice Centre and Nanaimo Aquatic Centre will both be open during the holiday Monday. The ice centre will host skate sessions while the aquatic centre will be hosting an Everyone Welcome Swim. Family Play Day takes place between 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for a family of five or $3 each. Children under the age of two are free. Tickets can be purchased at Bowen Park, Beban Park and Oliver Woods Community Centre. For more information, please visit www. nanaimo.ca. reporter2@nanaimobulletin.com
Information workshops target dementia caregivers An increasing number of Nanaimo residents are finding themselves in the informal role of caregiver for a family member. Dementia, the medical term for a set of symptoms that are caused by disorders affecting the brain, is becoming more common as the population ages. Already B.C. families provide 33 million hours of unpaid care to people with dementia per year, says Jane Hope, the Alzheimer Society of B.C.’s support and education coordinator for the central andNorth Island.
Women account for 70 per cent of the caregivers. “The physical and psychological toll on family caregivers is considerable,” Hope said. Knowing the signs of caregiver stress and finding ways to get support are important both for the well-being of caregivers and those they are caring for. To help residents on the dementia journey, the society brings its free family caregiver series to Nanaimo for four Fridays starting on Feb. 19. Caregivers will learn strategies to care for someone with dementia
and to take care of their own health, to ensure they are prepared to continue to provide care for their family members. “We provide practical techniques and strategies that caregivers can begin using immediately,” Hope says. The four-part workshop runs on Feb.19 and 26, and March 4 and 11, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Alzheimer Resource Centre, 2001585 Bowen Road. Preregistration is required. For information and to register, please contact Hope at 250-734-4170 or e-mail jhope@alzheimerbc.org.
reporter@nanaimobulletin.com