4891 replies to this topic

[lanforod]

Oh they won’t lose any funding and their job should get easier with their most difficult people institutionalized. Seems like a win win for them.

[Daveyboy]

Well, it is a good beginning but years overdue. Suspect the poverty pimps will not be thrilled.

The BC Civil Liberties Association will certainly do their best to ensure this good beginning ends as quickly as possible.

[dasmo]

As they should. Unless by involuntary care they mean prison and the perpetrator will be arrested and tried for criminal activity. Otherwise it is most unwise to give these clowns the consent to decide who is mentally unwell enough to go into involuntary care.

Just enforce the law…. If someone is downtown harassing people, arrest them. Plenty of laws exist to enable this. If they repeat it then they can go into involuntary care a special ward of the prison. Let their lawyer get them into a psychiatric ward….

[Sparky]

The tools to activate involuntary care have been in place since the establishment of the judicial system.

 

Play by the rules and one gets to live their life in relative peace.

 

It's when the rules are bent, overlooked and disregarded....is when we have a social discord.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://cheknews.ca/...bylaws-1233875/

 

 

 

This fence is clearly designed so people cannot see what goes on in here.

 

And of all the drug trade that will take place here, how much of it is controlled by SOLID?  What's their cut?

 

 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

>>> Applications open for Youth Harm Reduction Award

Applications for the 2025 Youth Harm Reduction Award are now open for youth in the Island Health region who have worked on a harm-reduction project related to substance use.

Winners of the annual award, launched in 2022, will receive $1,000 and a framed certificate.

Last year’s winning team was three Nanaimo youth who developed a display board mounted in their school with information about drug checking and other ways to prevent toxic-drug poisonings.

The students also learned how to administer the overdose-reversing-drug naloxone, then trained more than 20 staff and teens.

The trio visited the drug-checking service offered at the Nanaimo overdose prevention site, and learned about Substance, a free and confidential drug-checking service that operates from noon to 7 p.m. at 1802 Cook St. in Victoria and yields results in as little as 30 minutes.


https://www.timescol...grants-10134731

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 27 January 2025 - 12:48 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

[Mike P.]

What the hell is this? Resident at 844 Johnson wants better living conditions...

First clean up your garbage and your suite will look much better. And what, you want fresh walls so you can punch more holes in them? Stellar reporting Chek News once again. You win trophy of the year. And what is he using this propane torch for? He said he's not on drugs... *Wink*

https://cheknews.ca/...itions-1236255/

Edited by Mike P., 28 January 2025 - 05:32 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://x.com/Vibran...364947465077190

 

[Victoria Watcher]

What the hell is this? Resident at 844 Johnson wants better living conditions...

First clean up your garbage and your suite will look much better. And what, you want fresh walls so you can punch more holes in them? Stellar reporting Chek News once again. You win trophy of the year. And what is he using this propane torch for? He said he's not on drugs... *Wink*

https://cheknews.ca/...itions-1236255/

 

Ya.  Admits he is addicted (to methadone).

 

Says he has lived there three years.

 

Punches holes in the walls on the regular.

 

Seems to complain they they feed him every morning and night.

[lanforod]

Sounds like another candidate for Rivervi2w.

[Mike P.]

I thought methadone was a treatment to help wean off drugs?

There's no way the province didn't know what's happening in that building.... Cops are there around 900x/year.

And why is it called supportive housing .. what are they supporting? Their habits?

Edited by Mike P., 28 January 2025 - 10:03 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

And why is it called supportive housing .. what are they supporting? Their habits?

 

Yes, there is also a safe injection site in the building.

[Victoria Watcher]

I thought methadone was a treatment to help wean off drugs?

 

On theory, it is.  

 

In practice, there seems to be no indication that doctors attempt to lower the dosage.  Nearby, of course, two pharmacies open at 6am and 7am almost exclusively to cater to these addicts.   The practices are lucrative.

 

 

 

 

 

Under the Methadone Maintenance Payment Program, PharmaCare offers pharmacies a payment program for witnessing ingestion of methadone.

 

This section also includes information on reimbursement and claims submission for methadone for treatment of pain.

 

https://www2.gov.bc....payment-program

 

 

 

 

And of course, kickbacks are widespread:

 

 

This means that a single methadone patient could bring in up to $13,760 a year in pharmacy fees for multiple medications. A pharmacy with a few hundred such patients can easily bill PharmaCare for millions of dollars a year.

 

 

 

 

 

Some B.C. pharmacies have resumed prohibited cash payments to patients, pharmacists’ letter alleges

 

 

 

 

Some pharmacists have resumed the practice of offering prohibited cash incentives in exchange for patients’ prescription business, despite media and government scrutiny last spring that forced a temporary halt to the kickbacks, say pharmacists in a letter to British Columbia’s Health Minister.

 

 

[...]

 

 

“Approximately eight months ago, media reports highlighted allegations of pharmacies offering incentives to attract prescriptions, prompting your swift response in forming a special investigation panel,” said the Nov. 26 letter, which added that many pharmacists provided the college with detailed information about illegal activities.

 

“The situation temporarily improved when investigations were perceived to be under way; however, six months later, the unethical practices have surged, with devastating consequences for ethical businesses and patient safety,” the letter says.

 

The Globe spoke with two of the signatories and is not naming them because they said they fear for their personal safety and are concerned about professional repercussions.

 

The Globe reported last March that numerous B.C. pharmacies were accused of paying patients prohibited cash incentives – typically around $50 a week – to fill their prescriptions at the pharmacies’ locations and recruit others to do the same, maximizing the amounts the pharmacies can bill the province’s publicly-funded drug plan. The pharmacies appeared to target low-income patients with substance use disorders who are on opioid agonist therapies such as methadone.

 

Pharmacies charge a dispensing fee for each prescription, and these fees make up a significant portion of their overall revenue. For patients on income assistance and with First Nations health benefits, a pharmacy that is enrolled with BC PharmaCare can bill the publicly-funded program for up to $10 for each of up to three medications, per patient, per day.

 

For methadone, the most-commonly-prescribed medication for opioid use disorder, the program also pays pharmacies an “interaction fee” of $7.70, on top of the dispensing fee, for the pharmacist to witness the patient ingesting the medication. This means that a single methadone patient could bring in up to $13,760 a year in pharmacy fees for multiple medications. A pharmacy with a few hundred such patients can easily bill PharmaCare for millions of dollars a year.

 

The Globe spoke to 28 doctors, nurses, pharmacists, patients and social service providers as part of its investigation. Among them, two doctors, two pharmacists and several patients independently revealed the name of dozens of pharmacies alleged to offer kickbacks, including locations in Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, New Westminster and Victoria. A Globe journalist also witnessed a pharmacy delivery man paying a patient a $50 kickback.

 

In May, the Health Ministry sent a letter to Vancouver-area pharmacies warning that offering such inducements could result in a fine of up to $200,000 and/or six months imprisonment. As an apparent result, pharmacies began cutting off the payments.

 

 

https://www.theglobe...letter-alleges/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 29 January 2025 - 01:52 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

https://x.com/VancityNews1

 

[Victoria Watcher]

In 1993, an investigation by the chief coroner in British Columbia sounded the alarm after recording an "inordinately high number” of drug-related deaths, of which there were 330.

 

In April 2016, a provincewide state of emergency was declared after a steep and unprecedented spike in overdose deaths. This number climbed to 997. 

 

In 2023, the toll reached an all-time high of 2,574 lives lost.

 

 

 

https://www.vicnews....ictoria-7791368

[Mike P.]

At some point one would think the number of users would have to drop, no?

Edited by Mike P., 01 February 2025 - 12:20 PM.

[E2V]

At some point one would think the number of users would have to drop, no?

Instead, for example, the group on Douglas near the Bay Centre has grown and appear to be younger.

[Mike P.]

True

[Matt R.]

I think these modern drugs are just that good.