3808 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

START here to see how bad it is in Nanaimo:

 

https://youtu.be/_RaWzJUeT0o?t=1634

[Victoria Watcher]

After watching that video, I DO agree MAiD should be enthusiastically offered to all these users. It would be much more compassionate than the current system. There is little point keeping most of these people alive.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 May 2023 - 08:00 AM.

[spanky123]

Video of downtown Vancouver - since we are sharing. 

 

https://www.youtube....h?v=URcDZ8HjTtQ

 

The narrative is that this is happening everywhere so it is not the fault of the socialist policies we see in many cities on the West Coast. True there is homeless in most cities but not crime and despair to this extent.

[max.bravo]

START here to see how bad it is in Nanaimo:

https://youtu.be/_RaWzJUeT0o?t=1634

Very, very sad to see this in our communities. It doesn’t take an expert to see that giving drugs to addicts makes it worse, not better. How long til common sense comes back to public policy?

[LJ]

^When we get rid of the Liberals and NDP.

[Victoria Watcher]

I suppose there is some hope that the Alberta plan goes better than ours and so we pivot to that.

But I’m not sure if anybody else is currently looking at the Alberta plan.



The City of Toronto has released its sweeping plan to decriminalize all hard drugs, including fentanyl and crack cocaine for any age.

Toronto’s request is even more lenient than the decriminalization order granted to the entire province of British Columbia by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this year.

The City is asking that the federal government grant a Health Canada exemption for all drugs extending even to children.


https://tnc.news/202...alization-kids/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 May 2023 - 06:59 PM.

[Nparker]

...The City is asking that the federal government grant a Health Canada exemption for all drugs extending even to children...

How did we get to this place? 

[Mike K.]

This is quite the exchange between Poilievre and the mental health minister, Carolyn Bennett. I don’t thing she won this debate.

https://youtu.be/fvu8R7EcyBU

[Victoria Watcher]

“A 300 per cent increase in drug overdose deaths in B.C. since Trudeau took office eight years ago — the Trudeau-NDP approach is on open display in Vancouver — it’s a complete disaster.”


https://www.northern...ddiction-crisis

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 May 2023 - 08:02 PM.

[Barrrister]

Have they actually spent a hundred million dollars to flood the streets with drugs.

[dasmo]

How did we get to this place? 

Diversity, equity & inclusion

https://www.unpri.or...rs/9393.article

[dasmo]

Shoot, imagine if they did something like this for real problems that we can see and that impact us outside of computer models and grand standing?

 

In 2018, the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy was further reinforced through the European Covenant of Mayors movement, which expanded its reach beyond the EU borders. The movement aimed to engage cities worldwide in the fight against climate change, promoting collaboration, knowledge-sharing, and capacity-building among local governments globally.

 

To support signatories, the Covenant provides technical assistance, funding opportunities, and a platform for exchanging best practices and experiences. It facilitates networking among cities and fosters partnerships with stakeholders, including businesses, civil society organizations, and research institutions.

 

The Covenant of Mayors has demonstrated significant growth since its inception. As of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021, it had over 10,000 signatories representing more than 230 million citizens in Europe and beyond. These signatories vary in size and geographic location, ranging from small towns to major cities, all united in their commitment to sustainable energy and climate action.

 

By mobilizing local authorities, the Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy has played a crucial role in advancing the global transition to a low-carbon and climate-resilient future. It has empowered cities to take the lead in implementing innovative solutions, fostering sustainability, and inspiring other communities to follow suit.

[aastra]

 

Have they actually spent a hundred million dollars to flood the streets with drugs.

 

Gotta spend money to make money.

[Matt R.]

Gotta spend money to make money.

Can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs!

[Victoria Watcher]

Why don't we run a test pilot program?

 

Go see if you can rustle up 10 volunteers on East Hastings, put them into 10 different programs.  Ranging from abstinence, working farm type remote program, to just putting one up in an SRO downtown with free "safe supply".  Put one through the expensive $30,000/mo. private care. 

 

Let's see the results in 1 year from each volunteer.  

 

NOTHING we are doing right now is decreasing deaths.

 

 

 

 

 

Accidental poisonings killed more young people than old people in 2020 and 2021, with 2,640 individuals in Canada aged 45 or younger perishing in this manner in 2020 and 3,600 in 2021. Meanwhile, just 580 folks 65 or older died in the same way. 

 

In Alberta in 2020, 1,080 people died as a result of accidental poisonings and exposure to noxious substances, second in the nation only to Ontario’s 2,472. These include “poisoning from various illicit drugs, prescription and over-the-counter medications, alcohol, as well as solvents and pesticides.” 

 

https://edmontonjour...-c-says-statcan

 

British Columbia reported 2,272 illicit drugs deaths in 2022, new data released by the BC Coroners Service shows.

 

https://bc.ctvnews.c...-year-1.6253605

 

https://www2.gov.bc....llicit-drug.pdf

 

 

Alberta's opioid death count hit 1,346 in 2022

 

Over 3,500 people died of overdoses in the first half of 2022 (data is available only up to June). That's almost 20 people per day, and more than half the number of people who died of overdoses during the first year of the pandemic.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...risis-1.6694577

 

 

 

 

 

Alberta:  1,346/4.371M population = 1 death for every 3,247 residents

BC:  2,272/5.017M population = 1 death for every 2,208 residents

Canada:  7,000/38.25M = 1 death for every 5,464 residents

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 May 2023 - 11:42 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

So on the graph above, the BC death rate per 100,000 is about 42.

 

Here is the 2021 US rate, same scale:

 

https://www.cdc.gov/...g_poisoning.htm

 

[Victoria Watcher]

Nearly 2,500 people died from overdoses in Washington state in 2022, representing the fifth-highest increase in the United States, according to a report published Monday.

 

https://www.king5.co...ublished Monday.

 

 

 

Alberta:  1,346/4.371M population = 1 death for every 3,247 residents

BC:  2,272/5.017M population = 1 death for every 2,208 residents

Canada:  7,000/38.25M = 1 death for every 5,464 residents

WA State:  2,500/7.739M = 1 death for every 3,095 residents

 

 

 

 

 

Does anyone see anything in the above figures to suggest BC is doing a great job?  Or should Bonnie Henry be fired?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 28 May 2023 - 11:52 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

In Victoria, services for drug users not keeping pace as toxic drug crisis deepens

The demand for supervised injection and inhalation, along with safer supply, continues to grow

 

 

 

 

 

When one of the first informal supervised drug consumption sites opened in Greater Victoria in 2017, it quickly outgrew its space.

 

It was housed in a shipping container in the courtyard of Our Place Society and only had capacity for three people. That grew to seven when a second shipping container was added.

 

The need for greater access to supervised consumption sites couldn’t be ignored, said Fred Cameron, director of programs at Solid, a grassroots organization staffed by people with lived experience of drug use.

 

Drug users were already watching out for each other and responding to overdoses at Solid’s headquarters and elsewhere in the city at the time.

 

“But this was much more official. It had paramedics working there. So it was the first of its kind here,” Cameron said.

 

Victoria now has four overdose-prevention sites where people can use substances under the supervision of trained staff, including one site dedicated to those who smoke drugs, as well as prevention sites in housing facilities.

 

The number of supervised consumption sites and services for people who use drugs has grown since the public health emergency was declared for B.C.’s toxic drug poisoning crisis in 2016, but it’s not keeping pace with need.

 

________________________

 

Operating an inhalation site is a challenge because of laws to protect staff from working in smoking environments. Solid has found ways to separate staff from smoking rooms with walls and windows so they’re not exposed to smoke, but can still supervise people using drugs, Cameron said.

 

Solid now has about 3,000 members and 100 staff, and has transformed from an activist group to a service provider since it opened in 2003, Cameron said.

 

The group plays an important role in ensuring lived experience guides the response to the crisis.

 

“Trying to throw money at a problem that, by nature, hides from the system isn’t going to work without the help of people from the community,” he said.

 

 

https://www.timescol...deepens-7075136

 

 

 

 

 

Illicit drug use becoming one big taxpayer-funded social club isn't the way to fewer deaths.  Hiring people with "lived experience" is also garbage.

 

 

 

VANCOUVER ISLAND HEALTH AUTHORITY Financial Information Act - 2021/2022 Report Schedule of Payments To Vendors Receiving More Than $25,000

 

>  $2.13M paid to SOLID in this year

 

https://www.islandhe...s-2021-2022.pdf

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 May 2023 - 09:33 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

In a Tuesday statement, mayoral candidate Anthony Furey released images of a “crack pipe kit” and a “crystal meth pipe kit” distributed by Toronto Public Health.

 

Furey — a former Postmedia columnist — said he was given the kits by “whistleblowers” within the city’s non-profit shelter system.

 

According to the kit’s packaging, they’re assembled by The Works, a harm reduction program operated by Toronto Public Health.

 

The Works began in 1989 as a means to distribute clean needles in order to slow the spread of HIV among the city’s injection drug users. In 2014, the agency was boasting of handing out 1.3 million needles per year.

 

But like most Canadian needle distribution programs, in recent years The Works expanded to include sterilized, single-use versions of every other conceivable piece of drug paraphernalia.

 

 

https://nationalpost...-meth-pipe-kits

 

 

 

Injection drug users can hit up The Works for free cookers, acidifiers, filters and tourniquets in addition to clean syringes. And users of meth or crack cocaine can collect free Pyrex stems or glass bowl pipes.

 

Furey — who is polling in about fourth place for the June 26 mayoral byelection — has made it a campaign pledge to shut down Toronto’s network of safe consumption sites and divert them towards drug treatment, including mandatory treatment if necessary.

 

On Tuesday, he said that crack and meth kits were not just available at safe consumption sites, but were being offered through the city’s shelter network. “Shelters across the city are now being told they must distribute these drug kits, and basically become injection sites,” he said.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 May 2023 - 10:44 PM.

[Mike K.]

A 14-year-old died in metro Van as a result of ‘safe supply,’ the father says.

Fourteen-year-old Kamilah Sword overdosed and died last August after becoming addicted to hydromorphone, a drug which her friends say they often acquired through drug users who were defrauding Vancouver’s safer supply programs. Her father, who wants answers for his daughter’s death, feels “brushed aside” by the government and worries about how the investigation of his daughter’s death is being handled.

Last week, he shared his story and introduced me to Kamilah’s closest friends, and their parents, who explained how hydromorphone abuse has ravaged their families and contributed to a new generation of opioid addicts in Port Coquitlam, B.C.

Collectively, they painted a disturbing portrait of a community where the abuse of “dillies” (the slang term for Dilaudid, a brand of hydromorphone) is ubiquitous among teenagers, thanks, in part, they say to the wide-scale defraudment of “safer supply” programs.

As I reported in an investigative story, published earlier this month by the National Post, Canada’s “safer supply” experiment, which was widely scaled up in 2020, has been a disaster.

The program was supposed to reduce overdoses and deaths by providing drug users with free hydromorphone, a pharmaceutical opioid as potent as heroin, as an alternative to potentially tainted street substances. In practice, these opioids are often being resold (diverted) on the black market to fund the purchase of harder street drugs, primarily fentanyl.

…

The drug’s impact on the community has been devastating. “I’ve never met so many teenagers who are drug addicts before. A huge majority of teens are using because it’s so easily available,” said Miller, adding that her daughter had to leave the community to get clean, as hydromorphone was an omnipresent temptation.

- https://nationalpost...in-safer-supply

And what are they teaching the kids? If you want to use drugs, use them with a friend.