Turning Point to host ‘Opioids Don’t Discriminate’ exhibit at RDC this month

“We work with folks who lots of people look at and figure are the only people that are impacted by this,” says Carmichael. “In fact, those folks know that the drugs are contaminated, they know they’re at risk of overdose, they have naloxone, they know not to use alone, they know all this stuff. The people who believe they’re not impacted or they’re immune for some reason, my hope is that those people are going to recognize this crisis is impacting all of us.”

Carmichael says a greater willingness to understand the crisis would go a long way.

“The goal is to make sure that people are looking after themselves,” she says. “Just because you do a line of coke now and then versus using it all the time, doesn’t make you any less susceptible to a potential fatality.”

People who attend Opioids Don’t Discriminate will quickly find out that the stories included in the exhibit are not about who they would typically associate with the crisis.

“Everybody is so focused on the guy who is homeless with a shopping cart on the street, but in fact, other people are at greater risk because they don’t think it applies to them or it’s not going to impact their family,” Carmichael says.

Originally created by the Community Drug Strategy Committee in Strathcona County, the exhibit is funded by the Alberta government and features fictional characters based on real-life circumstances.

(OpioidsDontDiscriminate.ca)

“We’ve ‘Red Deerized’ it a bit,” Carmichael concludes. “Our service providers are definitely unique and our community response is as well.”

Event Organizer Kerstin Heuer with Non-Profit Today says what’s unique about the exhibit is that it comes at the crisis from different angles.

“The uniqueness of the event is that you can walk in their shoes and you can experience what they experience through the interactive exhibit,” she says. “You can learn different things about opioids and then decide what would you do if you were in their shoes.”

Heuer says the three scenarios include a hockey player, a mother and a teenager.

“I visited the first exhibit in Strathcona last year and I thought I knew something about it, but it turns out I didn’t know anything,” she admits. “You can get in trouble with opioids at any point of your life. The people that we feature are just regular people like you and me; one has a hockey injury and he just gets a prescription, and then becomes addicted to the opioids.”

Heuer says the exhibit is important for youth to see, adding schools can book tours to see it.

“For youth, it connects because of the teenage boy who is 16 and he has anxiety and he’s at a new school and tries to fit in and has some struggles,” she explains.

In addition, Heuer notes the four-day exhibit will also feature a panel discussion, documentary screening,, naloxone training and a health consortium on site.

The exhibit is free to attend, with community groups encouraged to book an appointment. Hours are 9:30 a.m.-7 p.m. on May 27 and 28, 9:30 a.m.-8 p.m. on May 29, and 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. on May 30 in RDC’s Cenovus Learning Common.

Red Deer has the highest rate of deaths from opioid overdoses in the province. There were 47 deaths from fentanyl in Red Deer last year. On average, two individuals die every day in Alberta as a result of an apparent accidental opioid poisoning.

More information is available at www.opioidsdontdiscriminate.ca.

by Sheldon Spackman & Josh Hall

Turning Point to host ‘Opioids Don’t Discriminate’ exhibit at RDC this month

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