AUGUST 29, 2018 \ STARWEEKLY.COM.AU
NEWS + SPORT + THE WEST’S BEST PROPERTY GUIDE
Dancer finds his rhythm
(Marco De Luca)
A western suburbs breakdancer is rapidly gaining recognition as a rising star. Christian, who goes by the stage name Bboy Nonoy, recently took out first prize at the Melbourne High School Interschool Breakdance Competition. Christian said the win was a year in the making. “I did the competition last year and came second, so I really wanted to go one better this year,” he said. “About two weeks prior to the competition I was training every day after school at KSTAR studios in Ravenhall.” However the year 11 student at Caroline Chisholm Catholic College admits his dedication wasn’t always there. “I gave it [breakdancing] up for three years because I wasn’t feeling it, but decided I wanted to resume it last year,” he said. “I got a few awards and things started to change. My hunger has grown, I’m more motivated than ever and feel like I’ve grown as a person and dancer.” With his passion restored, Christian has big goals. “There’s a competition called Red Bull BC One, which is the top 16 dancers in the world. I want to compete in that before I turn 20.” Tate Papworth
Drug deaths alarm raised By Benjamin Millar A sharp rise in the number of fatal drug overdoses in Maribyrnong should serve as a wake-up call, according to a leading independent health organisation. Australia’s Annual Overdose Report, released on Tuesday by not-for-profit organisation Penington Institute, showed the number of drug-related deaths in the area has been trending upwards in recent years. Penington Institute chief executive John Ryan said opioids such as codeine, heroin, oxycodone and fentanyl continued to claim the most lives through overdoses in Maribyrnong. Mr Ryan said the deadliness of benzodiazepines was
“clearly being grossly underestimated” and “benzos” had become a silent killer. He warned Australia is on track to experience a “United States-style drug overdose crisis”, with 2177 lives lost to drug overdose in 2016. The overdose report findings echoed those of a recent investigation by Coroner Audrey Jamieson. Her investigation into the death of a 24-year-old Hoppers Crossing man revealed Victoria has the highest level of heroin-involved overdose deaths since the heroin drought in 2000. Her report showed there were 37 fatal overdoses in Maribyrnong between 2012 and 2017, including nine in 2017 alone – up from
just one in 2013. Of the 37 deaths, 27 involved local residents. Across Victoria, the number of heroin-related overdose deaths rose every year from 2012 to 2017, more than doubling from 107 to 220. More than 80 per cent involved a combination of drugs, with more than half involving benzodiazepines. Coroner Jamieson’s report found the number of fatal heroin overdoses statewide reached 220 last year, out of 523 fatal drug overdoses in total. She said the findings vindicated the Department of Health and Human Services trial of the state’s first medically supervised injecting centre in Richmond. The Penington Institute report reveals
middle-aged Australians are the most likely to die of accidental drug overdoses. “In 2016, a massive 68 per cent of all accidental drug deaths were people aged 30 to 59,” Mr Ryan said. A growing number of women are dying from accidental drug overdoses. The figures follow a 2016 study showing CCTV cameras on Footscray streets have failed to reduce the sale or use of injecting drugs. The study by the Burnet Institute was based on a study of more than 680 injecting drug users. It found the cameras main effect was to shift injecting heroin and ice use from public toilets on to streets farther from the cameras.