HALIFAX A Moncton man who has been voluntarily cleaning needles off the streets says he won t be able to continue his work for much longer without financial help from the city. Richard Hyslop is the founder of Needle Dogs Moncton – a community group which has been cleaning needles off Moncton streets for the past 11 years. People in the community have asked us to step up and do this, so we did, said Hyslop. A recent GoFundMe page created by Hyslop says the community-based group, which includes Hyslop and his seven dogs, has cleaned up over 140,000 needles off the streets.
This week, Sean Pauley of Riverview celebrates four years of being clean following an opioid addiction to Percocet, first prescribed for a foot injury. New public opinion data suggests most Canadians see the nation’s opioid use epidemic as a serious problem, but they don t recognize it s an every class problem, Pauley says. PHOTO: CLARA PASIEKA/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT
Clara Pasieka, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter “I came this close to being dead,” said Sean Pauley, of Riverview, a recovering addict who this week marks his fourth year of no longer using opiates. Pauley says he was prescribed Percocet, a brand name painkiller than combines oxycodone and acetaminophen, following a foot injury in his thirties. What followed, he said, was 14 years of dependency.
FREDERICTON Mental health advocates in New Brunswick say the province’s recent pledge to provide faster and more accessible mental health and addiction services is a welcome, but overdue form of help that can’t come soon enough. On Feb. 23, New Brunswick health minister Dorothy Shephard revealed the province’s five-year addictions and mental health plan. According to Shephard, the goal is to improve access to services, provide early intervention support, and reduce the impacts of drug addiction. “I want everyone to know that this plan has clear goals, and will have regular check-ins to ensure all partners are accountable,” said Shephard during Tuesday’s press conference.
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Easier and faster access to mental health supports will be a dominant theme Tuesday afternoon when New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard reveals her mental health and addiction action plan.