(The Canadian Press)

By Justin Goulet

Opioid Overdose Awareness

Boys & Girls Club in Lethbridge addresses opioid overdose-prevention deal

Jun 21, 2019 | 11:32 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Earlier this week, a three-year partnership was announced between Boys & Girls Clubs across Canada and Adapt Pharma Canada.

The agreement will see 700 of the clubs receive supplies of Narcan, which is an opioid-reversing drug.

The nasal spray will be available for after-school programs, youth hubs, emergency shelters, group homes and in high schools.

Within the last year, three youths associated with the clubs in Calgary died after taking drugs that were laced with the powerful opioid fentanyl.

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The Boys & Girls Club of Lethbridge & District is one of the clubs taking part in the program.

“Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada has recognized that the opioid crisis is affecting everybody and that includes people who attend Boys and Girls Clubs and the families of those children and youth,” said Jennifer Gullage-Payne, the Executive Director of the Lethbridge unit.

“It’s an important partnership with Adapt but it’s also timely and necessary.”

She noted that Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada were the ones to approach Adapt Pharma Canada for the partnership. She first heard of talks on the agreement about six months ago.

PREPAREDNESS

Gullage-Payne said the main goal is around preparedness.

“Especially for our main north location in Lethbridge, which is here in Adams Park and we have needle debris that we see on a daily basis,” she said.

“For us, because we can be encountering a person who has overdosed at any given time – not to exaggerate and not to make it sound like the park is teaming with people overdosing – but it is something that we do experience, so we need to be prepared for that.”

She remarked that they have seen an increase in the amount of youth using drugs.

“Not just cannabis, but we’ve (seen) meth, heroin and fentanyl. We know from talking with our partners at ARCHES that they’ve seen increased (youth) usage at the supervised consumption site, so for us, these are things we’re dealing with every day, so we need to be ready for it,” she said.

The Boys & Girls Club of Lethbridge & District assists children starting at age five and Gullage-Payne said they serve youth up until 18 years of age.

COMMUNITY RESPONSE

Since the partnership was announced, she said they have not actually received any calls or comments from the community.

“That’s a good thing and a bad thing. It’s nice to not have negative comments, but it’s nice to have good comments as well,” she said.

“I know our staff are quite happy about this and we’re very proud to be part of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada and the proactive approach to opioid use and overdose.”

The Boys & Girls Club of Lethbridge & District has five locations, with three in Lethbridge, one in Coaldale and one in Fort MacLeod.