Mayor takes debateto needle to social media

By Beeber, Al July 21, 2018.

Spearman and Blaine Hyggen exchange words

on Facebook

Greg Bobinec

Lethbridge Herald

Needle Dispensing Program Raises Controversy Lethbridge Over the last few months, Lethbridge has decided to stop helping addicts to spread serious diseases and support needle removal for the protection of our children and the community.

The argument has highlighted public protests, social media campaigns, and an endless argument that fails to strike the right balance.

Late Thursday night, the Facebook community was surprised by comments from Mayor Chris Spearman who wrote in response to a post criticizing him and others in the local government for their response to concerns about supervised consumption. debris found in public spaces.

"In fact, we know what we are doing, fools who want to close the SCS or restrict the distribution of clean needles would expose the community to greater risk."

Councilor Blaine Hyggen was taken over by comments and felt that it was a personal attack against his own needle distribution initiative.

Hyggen responded to Spearman's comments by writing: "Thank you your Adoration for calling your colleagues" idiots ", thanks!"

Spearman later in the evening tweeted a comment stating that he had never called anyone a specifically silly and that it was an invitation to self-declaration .

He stands behind the facts and studies of the doctors who provided advice and public information why the program is important not only to the users, but to the city.

"People who do not listen to competent medical advice, those who say they are better than experts, it's a problem for us," Spearman says. "The goal on July 9 was to bring in qualified people to discuss needle distribution and community risk. I do not stop hearing people say that they do not believe experts, well who will we believe if we do not believe people who are skilled in this specific area. "

A public meeting was held on July 9 with presentations from Dr. Nick Etches, Senior Provincial Medical Officer of Health, and Communicable Disease Control experts, Alberta Health Services, and Opioid Emergency Response Commission of Ministers and Treatment, Prevention and Treatment of Drug Addiction Services.

Spearman promoted the meeting as much as he could to help to educate as many people about the importance of the program and to better understand the opioid crisis

Hyggen chose another way to find information through non-partisan groups such as physicians who have medical evidence opposing the exchange of sterile needles.

"We were told that it was very new and we do not know how it works, and for them doctors to say how that works e when we do not even know if what we are doing is correct, "says Hyggen.

"I think I have talked to non-partisan groups who have other medical evidence, such as doctors or other people who are not part of a government, who are pushing something. "

The concern of spreading serious diseases As HIV / AIDS and various forms of hepatitis throughout the city is on Spearman's radar.

Remembering the HIV epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s, he does not want Lethbridge to suffer more than in the past.

"What I was saying is that people have to learn from history," says Spearman.

"We had a huge HIV crisis about 30 years ago, we had a huge blood contamination crisis 20 years ago, we had these experiences and we do not learn from these experiences and we continue to put people at risk, are fools. "

The spread of disease would not be contained in the drug community and would spread rapidly to all parts of the city, according to Alberta Health Services. Hyggen's concern is that lives are threatened outside the safe consumption site.

"I totally sense the site of supervised consumption because that's what it does," Hyggen says. "If we give people needles, I'm afraid we're losing lives because these people are going to overdose somewhere that we will not be able to administer naloxone, and you will not be able to revive them because "

The discussion on support for the needle exchange program was suspended until Monday's council meeting, where Hyggen will present a proposal for a regulation to completely prevent needles The Council will soon have to agree on what is most important: to prevent the spread of deadly diseases or to protect people from needles debris and overdoses. under surveillance

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