Kirstin Weerdenburg

Articles by: Kirstin Weerdenburg

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Why are police still charging youth with simple drug possession? The case for decriminalisation in Canada

21st September 2020

Dr Kirstin Weerdenburg, Assistant Professor, Dalhousie University

OPINION: Young people stopped by police while carrying drugs for personal use often swallow the substance to avoid additional charges, with potentially life-threatening consequences. Assistant Professor and Pediatric Emergency Physician Dr Kirstin Weerdenburg, and Kristyn Anderson, a Clinical Social Worker and PhD student, both of Dalhousie University, believe police discretion and decriminalisation are the way forward.

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Kirstin Weerdenburg

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Dr Kirstin Weerdenburg completed her Pediatric residency training at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio, before returning to Canada to complete Pediatric Emergency Medicine and Pediatric Emergency Point-of-Care Ultrasound fellowship training at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario. She joined the IWK Emergency Department as a Staff Physician in 2015 and is the Director of Pediatric Emergency Ultrasound, Research and Quality Assurance, as well as an Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine and Pediatrics at Dalhousie University. She is co-leading the development of the Point-of-Care Ultrasound program in the Emergency Department through the education and training of her colleagues and medical trainees. She also has further interests in quality improvement and injury prevention.