April 11, 2016
Toronto Star – Johnathan Forani
Attawapiskat in state of emergency following rash of suicide attempts – A state of emergency was declared following a rash of suicide attempts in Attawapiskat First Nation.
“People are getting scared. It’s an epidemic,” said community activist Jackie Hookimaw. Eleven attempted suicides in one day has overwhelmed the community resources and ability to cope. At this point it is not known if the attempts were linked in some way but none resulted in actual death. The James Bay area with populations in the few thousands has seen over 600 attempts since 2009 in which NDP MP Charlie Angus calls “a national disaster.” http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/04/10/attawapiskat-in-state-of-emergency-following-rash-of-suicides.html Globe and Mail – Staff and Canadian Press Attawapiskat: Four things to help understand the suicide crisis http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/attawapiskat-four-things-to-help-understand-the-suicidecrisis/article29583059/ Related article: CTV News Attawapiskat health-care workers ‘overwhelmed’ by suicide attempts http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/attawapiskat-health-care-workers-overwhelmed-by-suicide-attempts-1.2853638
Ottawa Citizen – Gary Dimmock
Ottawa cancer patient denied bail, sent to jail after shoplifting charge
If there were ever a case that highlighted the bail or jail problems in Ottawa, it’s this one. Kelly Tennier, 52, was receiving chemotherapy for cancer and was arrested for shoplifting. She spent four days in jail where a check-up for the treatments was missed because the Crown would not allow bail without a guilty plea. The judge sentenced Tennier to time served and she was able to make the next day treatment. Critics have laid the crowded jail conditions directly at the feet or crowns who refuse bail to accused people. http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/0408-jail Related article: Ottawa Citizen / PressReader: Andrew Seymour Minister rejects new jail proposal http://www.pressreader.com/canada/ottawa-citizen/20160409/281599534655270 Related article: Ottawa Citizen – Andrew Seymour Building new jail would fail taxpayers, Naqvi says http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/building-new-jail-would-fail-taxpayers-naqvi-says Related article: Ottawa Citizen – Justin Piché Here’s how to really address problems at the Ottawa-Carleton Detention Centre http://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists/piche-heres-how-to-really-address-problems-at-the-ottawa-carleton-detention-centre
Globe and Mail – Karen Howlett and Andrea Woo
Health-care system flaws hindering Ontario’s response to fentanyl crisis
Fentanyl is the drug used to treat overdoses of opioids and is now available to front line first responders. But the need for the drug and its frequency in use is beginning to draw attention to a number of failings with the health care system around tracking the opioids. “I think you really have a very broken system,” said Meldon Kahan, medical director of the Substance Use Service at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. “There’s a pervasive sense that addiction is not the responsibility of the health-care system.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/investigations/health-care-system-flaws-hindering-ontarios-response-to-fentanyl-crisis/article29582102/ Related article: Globe and Mail – Pauline Voon Opioids: A national crisis needs a federal response http://www.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/opioids-a-national-crisis-needs-a-federal-response/article29574947/
Ottawa Citizen – Gary Dimmock
Ottawa man spent 18 months in solitary, unfit for trial after psychotic break
Mutiur Rehman, 22, spent 18 months confined to a cell for 23 ½ hours a day – few visitors, no newspapers, no media and contact with people only when the guard brought him food. He is now in a secured unit of the Royal Hospital Psychiatric and has been found unfit for trial. A psychiatrist suspects that his condition deteriorated during the solitary. http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-man-spent-18-months-in-solitary-unfit-for-trial-after-psychotic-break
CBC News – Dean Beeby
Revised medical marijuana manual lists many adverse effects – New medical marijuana guidelines respond to doctors’ complaints about having too little information
You may wonder what has happened to the Liberal government promise to legalize recreational marijuana. The new publication from Health Canada has added section on the impact of marijuana on a teenage brain and the impact of driving while under the influence of marijuana. In an advance draft copy of the manual, the adverse impact sections are approximately 50% longer – 94 – 158 pages but the document itself is not available until later in the spring. http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/medical-marijuana-guide-1.3528520