Hundreds of youth in Greater Sudbury increased their awareness of the risks associated with opioid use this week.
On Dec. 3 and 4, approximately 500 students from across all four school boards participated in Health Canada's KNOW MORE Awareness Tour at Collège Boréal.
The KNOW MORE Awareness Tour educates young Canadians between the ages of 13 to 18 about the harms of opioid use through interactive stations.
In Sudbury, nurses, police and teachers answered questions and engaged in meaningful conversations about risks and resources associated with what has become a crisis in many cities.
According to Public Health Sudbury and Districts, opioids are among the most commonly misused and life threatening substances for Ontario youth.
While many teenagers know that opioids are harmful, they may not know what to do if they become exposed or what to do if someone else is in danger.
Public Health Nurse Sylvie Patenaude-Renaud works with Sudbury and District Public Health's school health promotion program and said that students showed genuine interest in learning more about drug-related harms.
Namely, much interest in Naloxone was observed. Students asked about what can be done to reverse overdose.
“In the breakout session students were very engaged in knowing more about opioid risks and how to protect themselves,” Patenaude-Renaud said.
“We’re really trying to emphasize that they need to be well-informed and that they need to know how to act if there was a situation of risk for themselves or anyone around them.”
With that in mind, students were introduced key partners in the Community Drug Strategy and to sources of help in the community, including members from Greater Sudbury Police Service.
GSPS Cst. Stefany Mussen works in Greater Sudbury's high schools and was on hand for break-out sessions that happened after students passed through the interactive stations.
Mussen said it is the job of police to keep young people safe and expressed hope that fear of the law would not keep them from seeking help.
“It is a growing problem, it's a crisis. We are, unfortunately, seeing people of all ages falling victim to the crisis,” Mussen said. "It happens to everybody and youth surely aren't immune.”
Part of Mussen's demonstration included informing teenagers about the Good Samaritan Act, which protects people from liability when helping others who are in life-threatening distress.
”What we want is to keep kids safe. We don't want them to just be worried about the legal consequences, we want them to be alive,” said Mussen.
Chantal Belanger of Sudbury and District Public Health recommends that parents and students access the Community Drug Strategy website for information. From there, a signup for alerts is available. Should a drug alert in the community, subscribers will be sent information immediately.
Visit www.phsd.ca/cds to learn more about community resources related to the opioid crisis and to sign up for the alerts.
