An educational session goes Tuesday in West Nipissing as a part of this National Addiction Awareness Week (Nov 25-Dec 1).

The free event at the West Nipissing Public Library looks at opioid use and current preventative measures.

Topics include opioid use statistics, harm reduction strategies, and opioid replacement therapy.

Substance Abuse Counsellors at the Alliance Centre, including Michael Taylor, will be presenting on the importance of needle exchange programs.

He says another speaker is Jenna Marasco with the Rapid Access Addiction Medicine Clinic at the Community Counselling Centre of Nipissing.

“She’s going to be doing a presentation on the RAAM Clinic and the potential for us to open one up in the Sturgeon Falls area, and Dr Ben Lalonde is going to be doing a presentation on addiction medicine,” Taylor says.

He also says drug trends have changed a lot in the last five to ten years and there’s more inherent risk with those drugs.

Taylor doesn’t like using language like ‘crisis situation’ but he says it’s certainly alarming.

“What we’re hoping to do is not only reduce stigma when it comes to addiction, but we want to educate people and we want to let people know what we’re doing to address opioid use in all communities, but mainly in the Sturgeon Falls area,” he says.

This year’s theme for National Addiction Awareness Week is ‘Stigma Ends With Me’.

Alliance Centre Youth Substance Abuse Counsellor, Leanne Estey, says it all comes back to education.

“It isn’t an easy life for people struggling with substance abuse, so the more educated, the more understanding that we can be, the more the stigma will decrease,” she says.

Tuesday’s educational event goes from 1:30 pm to 3:30 pm and is open to community partners and the general public.

Advanced registration is requested by calling the Alliance Centre in Sturgeon Falls at 705-753-2271 ext 0.

 

FILE PHOTO – This Aug. 29, 2018 photo shows an arrangement of prescription Oxycodone pills in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Filed under: Alliance Centre of West Nipissing, Community Counselling Centre of Nipissing, National Addiction Awareness Week