The CAMROSE BOOSTER, April 5, 2022 – Page 16
Crush garners Vanberg Cup By Murray Green
Too many preventable deaths There is an entirely preventable obscenity that is happening across Canada, particularly in BC and Alberta. I am referring to the fact that 2021 saw a dramatic rise in drug overdoses due to an unsafe drug supply. In 2020 and 2021, over 2,500 Albertans died as a result of using unsafe drugs. Tim Parker, Another disturbing fact is Psychology, that although Indigenous University of Alberta peoples make up six per Augustana Campus cent of the province’s population, they accounted for 22 per cent of the overdoses that occurred in 2020. This trend continues in 2022 and will continue unless drugs are legalized to provide users with a safer regulated product. The War on Drugs promulgated in the USA and in Canada is what makes the drugs unsafe. Given that smuggling drugs is illegal, it is easier to smuggle a small volume versus a large volume. Making the drugs more powerful by lacing them with fentanyl and carfentanyl is a way to drastically reduce the volume you need to smuggle. The fact that this makes the drugs much more dangerous doesn’t figure into the overall greed-based enterprise. In addition, those needing drugs must resort to serious crimes because they can’t access the drugs that they need in any other way. Preventing overdoses requires regulation. Alcohol is legal in Canada and its production is strictly regulated. For this reason, I can go into a liquor store with a high degree of trust that when a bottle says it contains 40 per cent alcohol, that’s what it contains. I can buy it without needing to be afraid that a single drink might kill me because it contains fentanyl; I have this trust because production is regulated by the government. One proposal being made by some governments is to decriminalize drugs. While this may improve the situation somewhat, it will not solve the problem of a lethal supply of drugs. Under decriminalization, while users will no longer be criminalized and only fined, the drugs will still be illegal and more importantly, still unregulated. Only legalization and regulation will reduce these preventable deaths resulting from tainted drugs. Unfortunately, the UCP Alberta government doesn’t seem to be receptive to this harm-reduction approach. Instead, they are focusing on recovery from addiction, an approach that does nothing to solve the safe drug issue and the consequent high rate of lethal overdoses. This is mostly because the general attitude is that no politician should be seen to be “soft on drugs”. However, consider how the rate of drug-related crimes would plummet if the government provided safe drugs to drug users. Citizens concerned about drug-related crimes should welcome this reduction. Although there may be a fear that legalization would increase the number of people using drugs, the research findings simply do not support this claim. For people with long-term drug habits, not having a dose leaves them in a very aversive state, complete with very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Having worryfree access to their next dose would then allow them to focus on other aspects of their life. This could make it possible for them to become contributing members of society, able to pursue their own goals and follow their dreams. There is good evidence from other countries such as Great Britain to support the claim that prescribing legal drugs produces the advantages described above. What is needed is a government that is concerned about those who use drugs and is willing to accept that legalization is the only way to stop the mounting drug overdose deaths. So far, there is little evidence of this happening. In fact, the Alberta government has gone so far as to turn its back on harm reduction initiatives and close the supervised safe injection sites that have been shown to prevent overdoses.
Camrose Crush captured the Vanberg Cup with a 2-1 win in the deciding game of the North Central Senior Hockey League finals. Game five was played in Lacombe on April 2. Brad Trautman scored at the nine-minute mark of the second overtime to win 3-2 in the fourth game of the series. Camrose scored first when defenceman Landon Oslanski found the back of the net. However, Lacombe replied just 38 seconds later to notch the game at 1-1 after 20 minutes. Lacombe scored the only goal of the middle frame on a screened shot from the point. Dillan McCombie garnered the equalizer midway through the third period to force overtime. Crush goalie Connor Dobberthien turned away 42 of 44 shots directed his
way. Camrose peppered Generals goalie Mackenzie Engel with 52 shots. In the third game on March 25, the Crush scored four of the first five goals to take command of the contest early. Dayton Murray and McCombie collected tallies in the first period before Colin Zimmer replied for the Generals. In the middle frame, Camrose scored twice again before Lacombe added another goal. McCombie scored twice to complete his hat trick. RJ Reed added the other two markers. After a Lacombe shorthanded goal, Ryley Bennefield scored on a power play, McCombie notched his fourth (seventh point of the game) and Zaine Walker added to the lead. The generals also added a power play tally. Dobberthien stopped 38 of 42 shots fired his way. Camrose recorded 39 shots on goal.
In loving memory of
Darrell Rousell
1951 – 2021 Miss you so much, Dad Softly out of the shadows, There came a gentle call, You took the hand God offered you And quietly left us all. And althought we cannot hold you We will never let you go, Because in our hearts you will live forever, Because we loved you so. Love always, Your children and grandchildren
In loving memory of
Muriel Folkes
Murray Green, Camrose Booster
DJ Bennefield of the Camrose Crush deflects the puck just wide against the Lacombe Generals in game four.
Kincaid named to AJHL all-star squad By Murray Green
Camrose Kodiaks defenceman Robert Kincaid was named to the south division Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL) allstar team. Players are selected to the respective rosters through a voting process completed by the general managers and coaches in the league. Goalie Andreai ProctorRamirez of the Canmore Eagles, defencemen Zach Bookman of the Brooks Bandits and Kincaid of the Kodiaks, forwards Ryan McAllister of the Brooks Bandits, TJ Hughes of Brooks Bandits and Rieger Lorenz of the Okotoks Oilers made the team. AJHL scoring champion and league MVP McAllister was a unanimous selection. All four finalists for the MVP Award were
selected to the AJHL allleague teams (McAllister, Thornton, Rasmussen and Lorenz). Bookman won the AJHL’s Outstanding Defenceman Award after being nominated alongside Kincaid. The all-league rosters include 10 players committed to an NCAA college or university including Kincaid, who is intending to go to the University of Maine next fall. The Kodiaks announced award presentations to Carson Whyte, City Police Community Service Award; Ryan Sullivan, MVP; Noah Alvarez, Rookie of the Year; Callum Gau, Most Dedicated Award; Carson Brisson, Scholastic Player of the Year; Robert Kincaid, Top Defenceman; and Mathieu Gautier, Most Improved.
who passed away on April 4, 2020 We thought of you today, Mom, But that is nothing new We thought of you yesterday And will tomorrow, too. We think of you in silence And make no outward show For what it meant to lose you, Only those who love you know. Remembering you is easy, We do it every day, It’s the heartache of losing you That will never go away. Love Karen, John and Cheryl
Memorial Poems Now available for publication in The Camrose Booster. Ask for our 24-page booklet of poetry. Words of comfort to remember someone special.
