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The Times Advocate, 2005-05-25, Page 66 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, May 25, 2005 Opinion Forum News Seniors' perspective Continued from page 5 mins, or herbal supplements. Ask about ways to decrease the chance of side effects. Ask when you should expect to start feeling better, and if and when you should report back to your doctor. Ask your pharmacist for written information about the medicine you are taking. Make sure to read the drug label to be sure that you are using the medicine safely. Be aware that products with different names may contain the same ingredients, such as aceta- minophen (for example, Tylenol and Tylenol Sinus). Be consistent - It is helpful to use the same phar- macy for all your prescriptions. The pharmacist can help you to identify any possible harmful interactions with other medicines that you are tak- ing. Keep a record - Keep an up-to-date list of all medicines you are taking. Include vitamins, herbal medicines, and prescription and non-prescription drugs, even if you only use them occasionally. Share this list with your doctor and pharmacist. Make sure that you know the brand names and the ingredients of the medicine you are taking. You should also know what each medicine looks like and how it should be stored. Pay attention to and record how you feel after taking the medicine. Discuss any changes with your doctor or pharmacist and report any side effects. Take control - Always use the medicine as direct- ed by your doctor or pharmacist. Know when to take it, how often, and for how long. Know when and under what conditions you should stop using a medicine, and what to do if you miss a dose. Keep medicines safe - Always keep medicines in their original containers, and never combine dif- ferent medicines in the same bottle. Make sure you are taking the right medicine. Always read the label and follow the directions closely. Health Canada's role The reporting of adverse reactions to medicines is coordinated by the Marketed Health Products Directorate of Health Canada with the assistance of five regional Adverse Reaction Reporting Centres (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec and the Atlantic Region). Manufacturers of medicines are legally responsible to provide Health Canada with reports of serious adverse effects for health products they sell in Canada. Voluntary reporting by health professionals and consumers assists in monitoring the safety and effectiveness of marketed health products. Need more info? Health Canada's Medication Kit includes a per- sonal medication record and a list of questions you can ask your health professional. To report adverse drug reactions call toll-free: 1-866-234- 2345 Keep a record of the medications you are taking by using the medication chart. For more informa- tion on safe drugs issues, visit The Canadian Health Network and search for safe drugs or safe medications. Keep a record of the medications you are taking by using the medication chart. For additional articles on this subject and other issues go to the It's Your Health website You can also call (613) 957-2991. The law is the law I hope this makes its way around Canada several times over!!! So if the Canadian government determines that it is against the law for the words "under God" to be on our money, then, so be it. And if that same government decides that the "Ten Commandments" are not to be used in or on a gov- ernment installation, then, so be it. And since they already have prohibited any prayer in the schools, on which they deem their authority, then so be it. I say, "so be it," because I would like to be a law abiding Canadian citizen I say, "so be it," because I would like to think that smarter people than I are in positions to make good decisions. I would like to think that those people have the Canadian public's best interests at heart. But, you know what else I'd like? Since we can't pray to God, can't Trust in God and cannot post His Commandments in Government buildings, I don't believe the Government and its employees should participate in the Easter and Christmas celebrations which honour the God that our government is eliminating from many facets of Canadian life. I'd like my mail delivered on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving and Easter. After all, it's just another day. I'd like our government to be in session on Christmas, Good Friday, Thanksgiving and Easter as well as Sundays. After all, it's just another day. I'd like all representatives to not have to worry about getting home for the Christmas Break. After all, it's just another day. I'm thinking that a lot of my taxpayer dollars could be saved, if all government offices and ser- vices would work on Christmas, Good Friday and Easter. It shouldn't cost any overtime since those would be just like any other day of the week to a government that is trying to be "politically cor- rect." In fact, I think that our government should work on Sundays (initially set aside for worshipping God) because, after all, our government says that it should be just another day. If this idea gets to enough people, maybe our elected officials will stop giving in to the minority opinions and begin, once again, to represent the majority of all of the people. So be it. Help return sanity to Canada. I say "Amen to that!" Did you hear Did you hear about the used -car dealer that set the odometer back on a treadmill he was selling at a garage sale? What were Tarzan's last words? "Who greased the vine?" Reform urgently needed Dear Editor: Today I lament with many Canadian citizens the daily democratic paralysis and lack of statesmanship out of Ottawa. I'm embarrassed that collectively we under- stand a lot more about hockey and leisure than how elections work. "It's high time Canadians began to interfere in their own internal affairs," (Rotstein, "The Canadians"). Thankfully, much reform politically can be borrowed from other democracies, but we first must recognize our extreme need and bury our smugness. To again entice dignified leaders of proven character to represent us in the House, we must again demand civility, honour and respect with enforced House rules. Sadly, Ed Broadbent stood to admit our House may no longer be a fitting example for high school civics classes. Why should national leaders not understand that trust must be earned? It is pitifully obvious that cynicism, stretched egos, petty partisan bicker- ing and outright mismanagement have become a new low, and faith in parties with real solutions has eroded. Plainly, parliamentarians must get serious about civil electoral and House reform, and make such, job one. Canada is ours to A lose. By contrast, borrow from Switzerland's successes. By using direct frequent referenda, Swiss citizens get real representative democratic control over all aspects of life, such as welfare, mini- mum wages, working hours, even social issues like smoking and drinking. Their government is limited to only propose major changes to the people but cannot impose them alone. Freedoms are guaranteed, environment protected, zoning enforced. Living standards are very high and poverty isn't an issue—all this in a nation of few resources I and three main languages. Just imagine the new hope and possibilities here, with our natural advantages. But Canadians have contented themselves with a seriously flawed party system bankrolled largely with enormous corporate and wealthy family donations to whom they have become beholden (spelled, GOMERY). We have allowed a broken system where money has overtaken voters' power. New breezes are blowing, however. The stranglehold of Neo -Liberal and Neo -Conservative ideologies even helps explain diminished national sovereignty and creeping continentalism over North America. With our outdated single ballot "first past the post" system, those who voted for any other than the winning candidate simply lost his/her vote and might as well have stayed home four more years. Happily for voters (but not for big business generally) a system of PR or "proportional representation" weighs each vote cast. B.C. is Canada's real pioneer with PR alternatives. To push for dissolution of Parliament now is unwise and wasteful of $300 million more in election costs, but we will replace Coke with Pepsi without addressing the underlying shortcomings. It is still the same circus but we change only the colour of the big top. System failure is robbing Canadians of their promise in the most naturally blessed nation on earth, yet we still have many positive options with fairer representation available. Ponder this—Only one per cent of all Canadians actually con- tribute to parties or candidates. It begs a bigger question—who- ever bankrolls the parties and candidates wields enormous power without a ballot. Political parties, pork barrelling and patronage are deeply linked and older parties have perpetuat- ed such. Don't we all welcome that new spring start. le Patriotically, DAVID HERN, WOODHAM Letters to the Editor E End of year final exams are rapidly approaching EXETER — The School Council is hosting its last community forum of the year Thursday at 7 p.m. in the school library. The topic this time is drug awareness and we will have a community liaison officer from the OPP on hand, along with the OPP drug aware- ness kit. This kit has samples of the various drugs and drug paraphernalia so parents can see what the drugs look like and will be able to recognize the various items that may indicate drug use by young people. The drug kit is a wonderful resource for increasing community and parental aware- ness, and the OPP officer will be able to pro- vide up-to-date information on drug use trends in our area. This event should provide parents with an excellent opportunity to become more informed about drug use in our area and to fmd out what we can do as parents to prevent drug use among our kids. This is an important issue for all of us, especially since there are some dangerous drugs out there, such as ecstasy, crystal meth and crack cocaine. As a community we need to be much more aware of the dangers posed by the use of illegal drugs. Many people still think of drug use as an urban problem, but it is very much a reality in rural Ontario. Students can and do tell us that virtually every drug we can name is available here in Exeter, and provincial statistics will bear that out. I will have on hand some information from the most recent Ontario Student Drug Use Survey, and there is some rather disturbing information in it about drug use trends across Ontario. This survey, by the way, is available online and can be found by doing a Google r1 JEFF REABURN PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE search with the name of the survey. The key in dealing with any issue is education and awareness and we hope this event will provide that for parents. So, we encourage you to attend to become better informed and better equipped to respond to this issue should the need arise. I would like to remind students and parents also that the end of the year is rapidly approaching and final exams will soon be here. Students are actively engaged now in culminating activities in most subject areas, and the formal exam period will run from June 21 to June 27. We hope to have the final report cards ready for pick up in the office in the week of July 4 - 8, with left -over reports mailed out the next week. Students are reminded also that before reports will be issued, they must return all their textbooks and pay any out- standing library fines and/or fees.