REMAINS IDENTIFIED Name released by BC Coroners Service
FUTURE DECIDED
Darren Rizzolo set to join Chilliwack Chiefs PAGE 12-13
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MEDALS AT LAX NATIONALS Mission girls bring home gold in box lacrosse PAGE 10-11
2012
CCNA
85¢+ GST
Friday, August 22, 2014
SERVING MISSION SINCE 1908
Views aired on harm reduction
Burning man
Opinions differ at public hearing on needle exchange facilities Carol Aun MISSION RECORD
Harm reduction helped save Erica Thomson’s life. The people who reached out to her made her feel worthy and that she was not disposable. Methadone helped get her off drugs, and as long as she was on it, she was permitted to keep her daughter in her care. Today, Thomson is drug-free and works as an outreach worker for the Women’s Resource Society of the Fraser Valley (WRSFV). Katie, who didn’t provide her last name, is a recovering drug addict who cleaned up with abstinence and the 12-step program. She has a 13-year-old son with fetal alcohol syndrome to think about and no matter what, she doesn’t take up dope. The ways a person can recover from addiction are as vast and personal as the opinions on how to become drug free. Mission council heard varying viewpoints Monday during a public hearing on proposed amendments to a zoning bylaw to allow methadone treatment clinics and related facilities,
including needle exchange programs, in the district. A current bylaw prohibits needle exchange facilities in Mission, but council is considering lifting the five-year ban to support harm reduction strategies and to help protect the community’s vulnerable residents. Mission’s director of planning, Mike Younie, noted the district has not received any application for a standalone treatment clinic, like methadone, and any such proposed business would have to go through a separate process and public hearing. Needle exchange programs are not land use issues, said Younie, adding health services are regulated by the province and district bylaws cannot supersede a provincial act. “It seems to me the most successful way for people to stop using drugs is to cut them off, not provide methadone, which is addictive,” said former Mission mayor and MLA Randy Hawes, whose own son recovered from addiction through a long-term Continued on 3
A stuntman lights himself on fire Sunday at the Virtue Ranch as part of the Kids Day at the Ranch, an event hosted by the Virtue Foundation, which aims to create a memorable day of enchantment for disadvantaged children and their families. Danny Virtue started the foundation in 2002, and brought in a variety of live entertainment, including acrobats, wrestling, a grizzly bear, and set up a horse riding program for participants. The foundation is a non-profit group that raises awareness for children who are physically, mentally or financially challenged. The BOB FRIESEN PHOTO ranch is located on Carratt Road in Hatzic Prairie.
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