3880 replies to this topic

[Victoria Watcher]

Les Leyne: An up-close look at drug safe-supply diversion

 

 

The two views of how safe supply actually works have been crashing into each other with increasing frequency lately in the political world.

 

https://www.timescol...version-8596140

 

 

 

People can get 28 Dilaudid a day, and the pharmacist said patients have told him they are worth money and are sold or traded routinely on the sidewalk outside the store. He said his clients are accosted outside the store most mornings by buyers. “Vehicles would be observed idling with windows down in the middle of winter.”

 

On March 6, 15 people entered the store when doors opened at 9 a.m. In the next 20 minutes, nine of them left and had interactions with suspects that were believed to be drug transactions.

 

The next morning was the same. And the next day of ­surveillance, and the next.

 

There were 84 brief ­transactions in the minutes after the store opened, over the ­duration of the surveillance.

 

_______________________________

 

This week, Northern Beat ­published a memo from RCMP brass telling detachments to refer all queries on “hot button” issues — like drug seizures — during the pre-election period to headquarters.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 13 April 2024 - 04:50 AM.

[Nparker]

The NDP need to be banished into political obscurity.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://www.londonpo...d-24-25640.aspx

 

[JimV]

While I have no doubt that the Keleke boys were up to no good, it would be reassuring if the London police could write out their charges in comprehensible English.

 

“Possession of a prohibited or restricted weapon of prohibited device knowing no authority unauthorized.”

 

Good luck in getting that one past the judge.

[Beacon]

So if London Ontario is valuing the "dillies" (aka safe Supply in BC) at $5 a pop there, this is yet another result of "safe supply" being handed out here for free as Dillies only fetch $1-$2 here.

 

The pills will make their way to where they are worth more via mail order and the ENTIRE country will be flooded if the program continues or expands.  This needs to stop before other areas get worse in the country.

[Victoria Watcher]

Didn’t the Prince George bust value them higher?

In any event, there are multiple cash buyers out front of that pharmacy in Prince George when it opens at 9am.

Waiting for the first prescription holders to emerge with their take each morning.

Here we have pharmacies opening at 5am to try to out-open the next for that dispensing fee for liquid heroin substitute.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 April 2024 - 09:27 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://twitter.com/...084473729544322

 

[E2V]

I was walking on 900 Pandora a few weeks ago on my way to the SaveOn. As I passed by the two pharmacies I saw two exchanges with someone leaving a pharmacy handing a small paper bag to someone on the sidewalk and receiving another bag in return. Our government is trying to convince us this not happening and ordering people in authority who know better to keep quiet. Some of these diverted drugs are ending up in our schools. We should be outraged.

[Nparker]

You're a braver soul than I am for walking along the 900 block of Pandora.

[mbjj]

I used to go to the Save On on Pandora by car! Almost impossible these days to get there so I gave up. At least in a car I could lock myself in.

[LJ]

 

We should be outraged.

 

We are!!!!

[Victoria Watcher]

Illicit drugs in hospitals puts us at a breaking point

 

I am honestly starting to believe the theories that adversaries who wish to facilitate the downfall of North America are doing so by influencing the crumbling of society from within.

 

There are so many times I want to write in about one mind-boggling policy or another but don’t. However, hearing about the permissibility of drug addicts and their visitors to bring drugs and weapons into the hospital environment is the last straw.

 

How dare our policymakers put the general public at risk? Offering compassion and understanding for those who are addicted should not trump public safety and comfort, particularly when they are at their most vulnerable when requiring hospital care, nor should those who have dedicated their lives to help by working in the health profession be exposed to such risks.

 

And what about those with respiratory ailments? Do you have any idea how harmful any type of smoke is to their well-being?

 

I am so disappointed with what has become of Victoria as it devolves into a drug-addled gong show. If you enable, you perpetuate the problem, as has been evident with the rise in blatant drug use and associated crime.

 

I can’t take my children into town without seeing at least one person shooting up or in the throes of a high, but now I need to be concerned that this exposure could come while dealing with a medical emergency or ailment?

 

We are at a breaking point. Common sense clearly shows that we need to stop this madness before it reaches the point of no return. Do something!

 

 

Leanne Bates

Victoria

 

 

https://www.timescol...-doctor-8623580

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 April 2024 - 02:24 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Editorial: Too early to decide on success of drug decriminalization

 

 

 

Often these are subsequently sold or traded on the street for smokable versions that provide a more immediate high.

 

Yet this isn’t an easily corrected problem. With roughly 100,000 addicts provincewide, it would be a huge logistical challenge to have every consumption overseen.

 

There are other indications of a rough road ahead.

 

When the original legislation was introduced, only a few public locations were ruled off limits. When it became apparent that this allowed consumption in places such as parks and beaches where children are present, the province attempted to broaden the prohibited areas.

 

However, last December, the B.C. Supreme Court issued an injunction against this change in policy. The matter will have to be litigated again, likely all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada.

 

Last week, Health Minister Adrian Dix ordered hospitals to designate spaces for patients to consume hard drugs on site.

 

In one sense, his decision was understandable. If addicts have the right to possess and consume these drugs, why would that right end at the hospital door?

 

Yet while the logic behind decriminalization leads to that conclusion, we now have the prospect of patients shooting up in hospitals, and placing other patients and staff at risk.

 

The nurses’ union proposed an alternative solution. Patients could be prescribed less dangerous medications to manage their symptoms while in hospital.

 

In failing to adopt that suggestion, Dix may have been influenced by the B.C. Supreme Court’s reasoning that once illicit drug use is decriminalized, there are very real limits on where it may be prohibited.

 

It’s too early, of course, to reach a final conclusion. It might be that by the end of the three-year trial, the overall result will be positive.

 

We must certainly hope so.

 

Yet during the first full year of decriminalization, overdose deaths continued to climb, growing by more than five per cent to an all-time high.

 

If we are to avoid the Oregon debacle, those numbers have to come down, in a hurry.

 

https://www.timescol...ization-8623578

 

 

 

 

 

Now, what makes anyone think anything that we are doing (or not doing) is going to reduce deaths?  Or even more absurdly, "in a hurry"?

 

What we need is a solid plan to reduce the number of addicts from the current 100,000.  But nothing we are doing is aiming at that goal either.  In fact there is no policy position expressed by government that even indicates this is desired.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 19 April 2024 - 03:11 AM.

[Mike K.]

I ask again. Now that the pharmaceutical industry is on watch, and now that we’ve decided the war on drugs wasn’t working, what is leading to these staggering levels of addiction, today?

[JimV]

From the beginning we have been using the wrong metric -OD deaths - to evaluate the impact of decriminalization.  Addiction is mostly the result of bad life choices, people don’t catch it in the elevator.  Curiously,  we kill more than 10,000 people a year through the MAID program and celebrate it as a great success.  When someone kills themself with fentanyl it somehow becomes a great tragedy.

 

The real evil of drug addiction is the harm it does to society.  Crime, disorder, diversion of critical resources, etc.  Not to mention the young people whose lives will be diverted into a ruinous hell.  

 

The so called harm reduction theory, of which decriminalization is the poster child, just encourages and enables more damage to society.  The time is long past to drop the misplaced compassion for addicts and concentrate on reducing the use of dangerous drugs and all the attendant social harms.  If some of the addicts can be saved by treatment, good, but accommodating their self destructive behaviour should not be the main pillar of our policy.

[Mike K.]

I just heard of a story from a family who after a very long time, convinced their adult son to go into treatment. His drug councillor that he was assigned, in turn, convinced him that he doesn’t have to make life choices based on what his family wants or expects, so he rejected treatment.

He recently got high and landed on a floorboard heater after passing out, and severely burned himself down to the bone, before coming out of his high and realizing what was happening.

[Mike P.]

Maybe this time he'll seek treatment for his own good since his family wasn't convincing enough. It's an unfortunate event but he's got to take responsibility for his actions. From what I understand he's a grown ass man, not a child, and he now lives with the consequences of his own decision to reject treatment the first time. When you play with fire, chances are you'll get burnt.

As harsh as it sounds: At least he only injured himself and no one else. Imagine if he had set the house on fire while high, throwing innocent families on the streets, or have someone die or a first responder get injured in a fire like it sometimes happens.

 

-------

 

Let's turn that around and let's say I'm on a boat not too far from the coast, it's a hot sunny day and I want to go for a dip, but there are currents and I also don't know how to swim. My parents tell me I should put on a life jacket but the boat captain says I don't need one because the boat is right there. So I jump in the water without the jacket and the tide quickly makes me drift away from the boat and I struggle to stay afloat. Who's fault is it if I drown? My parents for not forcing me to put on the lifejacket, the captain for convincing me not to put one on, or myself for jumping without a jacket knowing I don't know how to swim? As a grown ass man, you got that right. No one else to blame but myself. Drowning would be the consequence of me jumping, and there's no coming back from that. Should people feel pity for me? Why would they? I wanted to jump and decided to jump. Would it hurt the people around if I died? Of course but what can we do. We can't take their pain away, but we can help them cope with it.

Edited by Mike P., 19 April 2024 - 08:07 AM.

[lanforod]

That drug councillor should be charged.

[Mike K.]

I can imagine the conversation may have gone like this:

Are you ready to drop your addiction?
Well not really, but my family wants me to.
Ok, so if you’re not ready, you’re not ready.
So I can say no?
Absolutely! You have a disease, and there’s no treatment that will work, unless you’re ready for it. In the meantime, let's get you some safe supply.
Ok!

[Mike P.]

Yep, we pay for the free councillor, we pay for the free drugs, free housing, and now free burnt treatments. At this point if they refuse rehab, should we put them in an institution since they're clearly unable to care for themselves and they're a danger to both themselves and others? Or do we do the same all over again and hope for different results?

Edited by Mike P., 19 April 2024 - 08:26 AM.