New campaign aims to better educate students on consent laws » UBC takes on campaign as an effort to further protect students Mercedes Deutscher News Editor © news@theotherpress.ca BC is hoping to create a safer environment involving consent, all beginning with better education. The new plan involves four different goals: to educate first-year students on how to distinguish consent from a lack of consent, to train staff and faculty on how to respond should someone come and ask them for help involving sexual assault, to involve the community in fostering care and respect for their peers, and to better educate the population on the implications of rape culture. “Consent is more than no means no,” Janet Mee, the UBC : Director of Access and Diversity : explained to CBC. “It’s maybe : means no. It’s | am under the : influence of drugs and alcohol : means I can’t give consent. : It’s Iam hesitating in any way : means I can’t give consent.” : Mee further explains that : only one-third of Canadians : understand what it truly means : to consent. In addition, Mee : says that the first eight weeks of : classes, especially for first-year > students, are when students face : a greater risk of being sexually : assaulted. The campaign uses a poster with emojis as a resource, where : different emojis show different : states and responses to the : suggestion of sex. The poster : explains that consent is only : approved when someone says : “yes” without being coerced, : while other situations, such : as a lack of response or being : intoxicated, means that consent : is not given. It is also implied : that consent should be viewed : ona case-to-case basis, and that : : just because someone says yes: : once doesn’t mean it will always : bea yes. : American sex educator : and YouTube personality Laci : Green will be visiting UBC : on September 28 to give a : presentation called “Best Sex : Ever!” that will further elaborate : : on the concept of consent. Meanwhile, the Alma Matter Society at UBC is further : encouraging a safer campus : environment by creating a : Sexual Assault Response Team : (SART). The SART aims to : : support victims of sexual assault : : and to respond to reports; SART ; see fit,” said AMS VP Academic : is not exclusive to UBC, as such : teams are forming on campuses : : right now and the university is : to really create that dialogue : piece right now to start the : conversation and to push : forward education—and then step two is response.” across Canada. “SARTs ensure that : survivors of sexualized violence : are supported to make the : right decisions for them and to respond in the way that they Image via Thinkstock Jenna Omassi to the Ubyssey. “The focus of the institution Fentanyl, an opiate on the rise » Deaths increase in Vancouver due to drug Katherine Gillard The Capilano Courier Fee a synthetic opiate narcotic known for being 50-100 times more toxic than morphine, is on the rise in Vancouver. According to a recent bulletin by the Canadian Community Epidemiology Network on Drug Use, fentanyl- related deaths have increased almost sevenfold in the province, going from 13 deaths in 2012 to go : in 2014. On August 9g, there were 16 suspected overdoses, including six deaths, in a one-hour period. Derived from the poppy plant, fentanyl is a cousin of heroin, and is typically pre- scribed by doctors in patch form for pain relief in cancer patients. Illicitly, fentanyl is often found mixed with other drugs that come in liquid or pill form such as heroin, oxycodone, and cocaine. “Pills or powders containing illicitly-manufactured fentanyl there is no quality control or regulated manufacturing process,” said Tiffany Akins, media representative for Vancouver Coastal Health. “These drugs may contain toxic contaminants or have different levels of fentanyl in each batch. Even pills produced in the same batch may have little to lethal levels of fentanyl.” Some people may not even realize that they are taking : fentanyl if they are recreational : drug users, because it has been : laced in other drugs. “Tt’s not so much hidden, : it’s that the illicit drugs that : people are experiencing neg- : ative consequences from are : drugs that are manufactured : by organized crime, so they : may be what we call illicit or : fake oxycodone, and in the : manufacturing of that oxycodone : : fentanyl is put in there,” added : Cpl. Richard De Jong from North : : Vancouver RCMP. are especially dangerous, because : Without a prescription from : a doctor, it is impossible for a : person to know their tolerance, Image via beaconnews.ca : and first-time drug users are at : a much higher risk of overdose : if they take fentanyl. Although : users may not be seeking : fentanyl, there is no way to know : for sure if their drugs are pure or > not. De Jong speculated on the : recent rise of fentanyl: “When : pharmaceutical companies made : it harder to make OxyContin available, fentanyl became the : substitute, if you will,” he said. : “The unfortunate thing is that it : is much stronger and people die According to De Jong, people : : have also died after overdosing —: : by extracting the drug from : patches and smoking it. “In that : case, you have two problems— : you have the fentanyl that is : extracted and used in the phar- : maceutical grade of it, and you : also have fentanyl [that] is now : showing up in the illicit drug : production,” he said. quite quickly from it.” Overdose signs include : severe fatigue, trouble breathing, : clammy skin, slow heartbeat, : and trouble walking or talking. : There is no way to test drugs for : fentanyl outside of a lab. Atkins : added that a user can’t smell it, : taste it or see it, but if drugs are : mixed with fentanyl it may be : lethal. The only sure way to avoid : the drug is to abstain from buy- : ing illegal opiates. ThE OTHER PRESS Is HOSTING A RAFFLE! Win cool prizes, ranging from a variety of gift cards to candy! All you have to do is attend a meeting at the Other Press, in room 1020 at the New Westminster campus, between now and September 28. Fill out this raffle ticket, and you're entered to win. It's just that simple! Meeting dates, all at 6 p.m.: July 27; August 31; September 8; September 14; September 21; and September 28 Raffle will be drawn on September 28. Prize must be collected by winner at a meeting of the Other Press. One raffle submission per person per meeting. NAME EMAIL i Email editor@theotherpress.ca for more details.