3790 replies to this topic

[dasmo]

"Irresponsible populist nonsense" is NLP to get people to accept an authoritarian world. 

[dasmo]

So someone thinks "I agree with him, I must be wrong, trust the experts".... 

[aastra]

Anyone who doesn't trust the experts on this issue must surely be a certifiable lunatic. Don't the results speak for themselves? Just imagine how bad the problems would be if not for the good work the authorities have been doing for the past several decades. It would literally be a social catastrophe, a public health catastrophe, a public safety catastrophe, and a catastrophe of self-destruction all rolled into one. The scale of it would be absolutely massive, impossible to hide. It would be out there in plain view for all to see on a daily basis. And the exploitation and profiteering would be off the charts.

Let's hope it never comes to that. Stick with the program, trust the method.

[Nparker]

Anyone who doesn't trust the experts on this issue must surely be a certifiable lunatic...

https://www.youtube....h?v=-CefaYs_pFs

[Victoria Watcher]

Grant McKenzie of Our Place Society estimates there are about 500 people living on the street in the downtown core in tents, make-shift shelters or doorways. Many suffer from mental illness and severe drug addiction.

 

He said a toxic drug supply on the streets has fuelled mental illness and violence in the community. Repeated drug use and revivals from overdoses damage the brain, said McKenzie, calling toxic chemicals such as methamphetamine a “parasite” that brings compounding trauma that induces violent behaviour.

 

“Criminality becomes more part of their day to day because they don’t feel there are any consequences,” he said. “In a way, they are calling for help.”

 

McKenzie said the province’s new plan for mental-health teams “is the first step,” but more is needed to provide the complex care addicts need, including well co-ordinated efforts among health teams and new facilities where they can get off the street and be properly treated.

 

“We’re seeing a change in people’s behaviour,” he said. “The street community is less of a community than what we were used to [a few years ago] when people would look out for each other. We have to declare drug addiction a pandemic because the death rate is climbing.”

 

Burghardt said he has witnessed the tragedy of drug addiction unfold around his brake and muffler shop.

 

“You see these young people, like teens and 20 year olds, start hanging around with these [addicts,]” he said.

 

“They have cars and, within a month or two, the cars are gone and you see them become one of them. It’s awful.”

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...iolence-6154831

[Mike K.]

Why did it take this long to admit what we’ve been talking about for years?

We’ve known about the mental health complications after overdoses. We’ve known about the commensurate violence. We’ve also known these hard drugs that cause overdoses are sought.

But for years this was not acknowledged. We still won’t admit that fentanyl is sought.

[Sparky]

Do you feel like everything is broken in Canada?

 

I know that the "Woke" group don't like this guy's game plan, but in all fairness the current plan is a bit of a mess.

 

What do you think?

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=UvvMfwUkXrM

[Nparker]

He's not wrong about the failed experiment or that the solution lies in a taxpayer funded "safe supply".

[Victoria Watcher]

Controlled environments better than the street

 

 

More security, more harm reduction (Naloxone, free drugs, free meals, etc.), and more mental-health outreach teams are all being suggested as steps to help curb the mental-health and addictions crisis.

 

This approach has been used for years and millions of dollars are being spent with the obvious outcome of more violence, more homelessness and more overdose deaths.

 

Do you think that perhaps we may need to be more proactive and implement strategies that will deal with the most important issues first?

 

The most severely affected humans living on the streets have multiple issues that cannot be resolved through superficial interventions. These folks usually have a severe mental illness, drug addiction and possible brain damage as a result of their lifestyle.

 

Adults with Alzheimer’s disease or other progressive dementias are placed in a safe, controlled environment where family and staff can take them into the community without fear of them getting hurt.

 

This type of setting is required for those on the street who cannot take care of themselves. It is contrary to their human rights to leave them on their own without societal intervention.

 

These folks need to be taken care of, right now. We must get them off the streets where they are indeed a danger to themselves and others. Many are repeat offenders and exhibit behaviours that are making our cities unsafe for businesses and everyone else in their neighbourhood.

 

They need at least a 30-day assessment to determine the severity of their condition and whether they may need continuing care in a supportive, safe setting.

 

All housing/treatment options need to be explored and temporary solutions created until a more comprehensive system is in place.

 

Supportive recovery homes, small group homes, psychiatric wards and empty hospital facilities could provide an immediate respite to help these folks be safe for themselves and for the community.

 

The current downstream interventions are not working and the chaos grows exponentially. We are throwing tons of dollars into the river and have little to show for it.

 

This is not to say we don’t have many caring non-profits doing everything possible to be helpful, but we need to always weigh the results with the time, money and outcomes to see what we need to do next and how to proceed.

 

Ron O’Brien

Retired mental health/addictions manager

Sooke

 

 

https://www.timescol...-centre-6176289

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 November 2022 - 05:23 AM.

[Mike K.]

This type of setting is required for those on the street who cannot take care of themselves. It is contrary to their human rights to leave them on their own without societal intervention.

Like with assisted suicide, the slope here is very slippery. This man thinks it’s against their rights to be drug addicted and on the streets. The addict might believe it’s the best situation, with drugs available any time they want, and no real repercussions to their choices.

[Victoria Watcher]

British Columbia’s coroner says the overdose death toll for October reached 179 people, prompting a renewed call for Premier David Eby to introduce a widely accessible safe supply of drugs.

The coroner says the October statistics show that illicit drugs caused the deaths of 1,827 people in B.C. in the first 10 months of this year.


https://www.cheknews...deaths-1118273/




At least 10,688 B.C. residents have died since the government first declared a public health emergency in April 2016.

The service says illicit drug toxicity is the leading cause of unnatural death in the province.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 December 2022 - 02:27 AM.

[Nparker]

More drugs will NEVER solve the addiction "crisis".

[Victoria Watcher]

30 days until small-quantity possession is legal.

[LJ]

 

This is not to say we don’t have many caring non-profits doing everything possible to be helpful, but we need to always weigh the results with the time, money and outcomes to see what we need to do next and how to proceed.

 

Ron O’Brien

Retired mental health/addictions manager

Sooke

 

He's retired now so it would be OK to actually do something that might work. Why wasn't doing this before he was retired?

[pontcanna]

We must have the courage to give people a time out

• Times Colonist
• 3 Dec 2022
• LARRY LEISCHNER  (Abridged)

•  A commentary by a former probation officer who lives in Youbou.

In the late 1980s, a large group of social workers, probation officers, family support workers and others working in the trenches were gathered together in Prince George when a news bulletin came on announcing the closing of Riverview.

 

The announcement was accompanied by a sanctimonious claim that those former patients would be housed in the community with all sorts of resources and wraparound services to ensure they succeeded within society.

 

We all looked at one another and pretty much said: “This is a real dumb idea.” The pile of BS being fed to us by the Social Credit government at the time was nothing but malarkey and claptrap.

 

Those in the know understood that this would lead to huge problems on the street.

 

And so it came to pass. Sadly, this was all so very predictable.

 

We now have a critical situation where many terribly ill people who are also often drugaddicted prey on the innocent, causing huge crises in nearly every community.

 

Until we have the jam as a collective to understand that many of these folks need to be involuntarily detained, nothing will change. They need to be in well-operated places that combine treatment, compassion and caring with firm and strict controls.

 

More: https://www.timescol...ime-out-6194860

 

[Victoria Watcher]

Substance-use programs for youth expanded

https://www.timescol...xpanded-6194864



Once fully open, it’s expected to offer medication-assisted treatment, addictions medicine and basic health care.

In addition to an overdose-prevention site, there will be other harm-reduction measures to reduce the risk of toxic drug poisonings. “At this dangerous time of drug toxicity, we want services to meet people [where they are],” said Malcolmson.




Probably the wrong take. What’s “addiction medicines”? Sounds like we are getting the youth into safe supply.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 03 December 2022 - 05:38 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Nanaimo is considering designating a property leased for a busy drug-consumption site a nuisance, which would allow the city to impose fines when officials are called in to deal with problems.

About 200 people show up daily to inhale or inject drugs while being monitored by peers at 264 Nicol St. in south Nanaimo.

Many neighbours say they are frustrated and frightened by the group’s presence and behaviour.

https://www.timescol...-safety-6222234

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 09 December 2022 - 05:06 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Victoria Watcher]

https://harmreductio...rdose-campaign/

 

 

[Nparker]

Meanwhile tobacco usage is vilified. We live in strange times indeed.