‘Pain, Pot and Opioids’, Optimists say thanks, putting ‘fans’ first

Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall

Weather forecast for Monday, July 10, 2017

Today – Mainly cloudy with 60 percent chance of showers this morning. A few showers beginning near noon. Risk of a thunderstorm. Wind becoming southwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 late this morning. High 27. Humidex 33. UV index 3 or moderate.

Tonight – Cloudy with 40 percent chance of showers this evening then partly cloudy. Risk of a thunderstorm this evening. Fog patches developing after midnight. Wind southwest 20 km/h gusting to 40 becoming light this evening. Low 18.

Pain, Pot & Opioids

Courtesy of the Chatham-Kent Public Health Unit:

Google “opioid epidemic” and these are a few of the headlines you will see:

Purdue Pharmaceuticals, makers of OxyContin, reach $1 Billion in annual sales, now admit purposely withholding proof that their product was highly addictive – ordered to pay $634.5 million for role in opioid crisis.

Opiate industry lobbyists spent $880 million to successfully crush U.S. state opiate-reduction efforts.

Ohio county sues opiate company, proving 8.2 million doses legally prescribed in their county in one year alone – the Scioto Health Unit declares “we are at war with the Devil.”

Musician Prince dies of Fentanyl OD.

Two and a half thousand Canadians died of an opioid overdose in 2016. The Ontario government has insured that emergency funds are available to boost numbers of front-line staff, and the CK Public Health Unit now provides free Naloxone (antidote) kits in hopes of preventing overdoses. It is time to look at less deadly ways of managing pain.

Cannabis, pot, marijuana…all are names for a plant that has been used for thousands of years to treat pain. Drug companies like Parke-Davis, Eli Lilly, and Bayer have all manufactured cannabis products in the past. Today, in the face of mounting opioid deaths, scientists are reinvestigating the therapeutic benefits of a drug that treats pain, and yet has no lethal dose.

We have different systems in the human body, such as the digestive system and the central nervous system (your brain and spinal cord). Few are aware that we also have something called the Endogenous Cannabinoid System (ECS). This system modulates pain, mood, and appetite, to name a few. Humans actually produce cannabinoids in the body. The only other entity in the world that emulates these human-produced cannabinoids is the cannabis plant. That’s right: these cannabinoids that we produce inside our bodies have plant versions that mimic them, and are only found in cannabis. And they reduce the sensation of pain.

LiUNA local 625 announced last month that their medical benefit provider Greenshield would now be covering the cost of their members’ medical marijuana prescriptions. The union said they “want to provide pain-relief alternatives to discourage opioid prescriptions” as their members suffer from painful injuries as construction workers. After two years of consultation, spokesperson Rob Petroni said he hopes “more doctors will move towards prescribing cannabis oil as opposed to opiates. The most important part of this is to reduce opioid abuse”.

For more information please contact Chatham-Kent Public Health 519.352.7270.

Sombra Optimists say thanks

The Sombra Optimist Club would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of their annual car show this year. The event saw over 200 vehicles attend Brander Park to the delight of spectators both young and old.

President Carla Aarssen stated:”“This event is a major fund raiser for the club, the proceeds going to youth activities within our community. The success of this event is directly related to community involvement from our vehicle participants, spectators and vendors. We had the support of our local community businesses coming up with generous donations, St. Clair Township for their continuing support and assistance and the extra help of “friends of Optimists” who worked at the Soap Box Derby and help setup and clean up”.

Carla further stated: “We are lucky to have a community that works together for our youth and plans are already being made for next year’s car show.”

Proposed New Ticket Rules to Ban Excessive Mark-ups

Ontario is proposing tough new rules for buying and selling tickets to give fans a fair shot at seeing their favourite music, sports or theatrical events.

The Ticket Sales Act will be introduced in the fall and, if passed, would prevent excessive markups in the resale market, provide fans with more upfront information and prevent ticket fraud, while strengthening enforcement of Ontario’s ticket laws.

“Tens of thousands of fans across Ontario told us they are frustrated and want to see changes,” stated Yasir Naqvi, Attorney General.

“It’s not fair to fans when tickets sell out in seconds and show up on resale sites at a massive markup. That’s why we are changing the rules to make sure fans come first and to give everyone a fair shot at getting the tickets they want.”

Proposed changes include:

– Banning ticket bots and the sale of tickets that were purchased using bots

– Capping the resale price of tickets at 50 per cent above face value

– Requiring businesses selling tickets to disclose more information to consumers

– Establishing new enforcement measures to help make sure that ticket selling and reselling businesses are following the rules

– The proposed changes follow consultations, including a survey completed by more than 34,000 people across Ontario.

“As both artists and fans of live music, we are very encouraged by the government’s new initiatives in support of ticket-buying fans,” stated the Arkells.

“Between prices on the secondary market and ticket bots scooping up all of the available tickets, we know how frustrating trying to buy tickets can be. When we put on a live show we want our fans to have access to tickets without having to pay inflated prices or risk buying fake tickets. We are encouraged that these new initiatives will be a step in the direction of getting real fans tickets at fair prices.”

Making ticket buying fairer is part of our plan to create jobs, grow our economy and help people in their everyday lives.

More details:

– According to a Music Canada report, live music contributed nearly $1.2 billion to Ontario’s economy in 2013.

– In the same year, Ontario was home to over 550 live music festivals which sold almost 16 million tickets.

– Ontario surveyed more than 34,000 fans in a two-week period between February 28 and March 15, 2017, with over 16,000 responses in the first 24 hours, making it one of the most popular online surveys ever conducted by the Ontario government.

– Ontario’s Proposed Changes to Ticket Laws

Photo of the day

Productive tour and discussion at Sydenham Hospital in Wallaceburg this afternoon with CEO Lori Marshall. #ckont #lkm #onpoli pic.twitter.com/hFsIVGMRSK

— Monte McNaughton (@MonteMcNaughton) 7 July 2017