REGION INVITED TO PLAN DRUG STRATEGY

Sunrise Health Region will tell its communities about the input the
public has given on devising a strategy to for combatting substance abuse.

In a press release Thursday, April 13, Andrew Sedley, Sunrise mental
health promotion co-ordinator, said, the region is ready to begin a
second round of sessions on April 24. Working with the input from
about 200 people for eight communities during meetings in November
and December 2005, its going on to a recommendation phase.

"We've taken the input received from the communities, and compiled it
into a working document," Sedley said. "We now want to present the
results to the communities and stakeholders so they can help shape
the information into strategy recommendations."

The release said it is anticipated that the input received can be
developed into recommendations that focus on the four pillars approach of

dealing with drug abuse which was first implemented in Switzerland
and Germany in the late 1990s. These are enforcement, treatment,
prevention and harm reduction.

"In Geneva, Zurich, Frankfurt, Sydney (Australia) and other cities,
the four pillars approach has resulted in a dramatic reduction in the
number of people using drugs, a significant drop in overdose deaths
and a reduction in infection rates for HIV and hepatitis," the
release stated. "Closer to home, the cities of Vancouver and Regina
have also used this approach in their drug strategies."

Drug strategy session are held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. and the dates
are: Canora - Monday, April 24, Canora Composite School Centre;
Melville - Monday, April 25, Davison School gymnasium; Kamsack -
Wednesday, April 26, Kamsack Comprehensive Institute Library; Foam
Lake - Thursday, April 27, Foam Lake Composite School library;
Langenburg - Monday, May 1, Langenburg High School gymnasium; Yorkton
- - Tuesday, May 2, Yorkton Regional High School; Ituna - Wednesday,
May 3, Ituna School library; and, Esterhazy - Thursday, May 4,
Esterhazy Central High School.