3790 replies to this topic

[rmpeers]

Homeless woman sentenced to 18 months in jail for selling drugs to Victoria police officer
Officer paid $20 for a substance consisting of heroin, fentanyl and caffeine


Not sure how I feel about this. Users like her are usually selling to other addicts to fund their own addictions. But who sold it to her, and who sold it to that person. That's where I'd rather see scarce police resources used. I don't really see the point, unless this woman can access effective treatment and counselling in jail. This arrest is not going to deter addicts from using of selling to other addicts, it's not going to make our streets safer or cleaner or get drugs off the street.

I believe *anyone* selling heroin, fentanyl, etc should be punished. Maybe it deters, maybe it doesn't, but these people are peddling death and misery.

[Victoria Watcher]

Victoria man charged in stabbing death of Vancouver overdose prevention worker

https://www.victoria...vention-worker/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 14 August 2020 - 02:51 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

more of this.  how can the writer look at that graph and then say this with a straight face?

 

 

 

Most of the media attention for the overdose crisis surrounds its use among the homeless community, who are among the leading clients for safe injection facilities. But as the chart above shows, this crisis is predominantly occurring among people who have homes or apartments. Rather than being due to a lower rate of potentially fatal overdoses among the street community, this may be more reflective of the fact that homeless injection drug users are generally more visible and better-served by harm reduction services.

 

 

 

https://www.capnews....lity-comparison

 

 

 

we already know that 99% of the population is not homeless.

 

so when 304 of the 716 deaths we can track take place outdoors or in cars, public buildings or shelters and hotels, then this is very serious problem in the homeless community.  period.

 

again:  1% of people are homeless.  but 3 out of every 7 overdose deaths appears to be a homeless person. 

 

now we need to ask.  are these people homeless because they do drugs or do they do drugs because they are homeless?

 

and even if some disagree with me and say that indeed people with homes tend to overdose and die more then why the heck are we trying to house more people into hotel units etc.?  would that 304 death figure go up or down if most of them had homes?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 15 August 2020 - 11:02 AM.

[Nparker]

The above sounds like another instance of aastra's mixed-message situations for which our region is famous. Housing is both the solution to and the cause of increased drug overdoses.

[Victoria Watcher]

the meaning of the last sentence of the blurb I linked still is not clear to me after reading it 6 times.

[spanky123]

Victoria man charged in stabbing death of Vancouver overdose prevention worker

https://www.victoria...vention-worker/

 

Very tragic story, I know the family. Loving home, every opportunity provided the child, downward spiral.

[Midnightly]

when they are talking about overdoses they are only talking about deaths caused by overdoses...they don't count how many naloxone kits they are giving out every month, or how many times an ambulance has been sent to save a person who is overdosing but not dead.. 

 

i do think if you add in that info to the results it would completely skew the numbers... yes those in homes are more likely to die because they are often taking the drugs on their own, and/or don't have a naloxone kit in the home... where those who are on the streets may be overdosing at a higher rate but are much more visible and someone walking past will hopefully have the sense to call 911, and also carry a naloxone kit with them

[Barrrister]

I do not know anyone who carries a naloxone kit with them. 

[Victoria Watcher]

From capital daily:






Most of the media attention for the overdose crisis surrounds its use among the homeless community, who are among the leading clients for safe injection facilities. But as the chart above shows, this crisis is predominantly occurring among people who have homes or apartments. Rather than being due to a lower rate of potentially fatal overdoses among the street community, this may be more reflective of the fact that homeless injection drug users are generally more visible and better-served by harm reduction services.




the first two sentences I can follow. Reading the next now for the 8th time.

ok. so now I follow. The writer suggests that there might be just as many or more outdoor overdoses but they might lead to fewer deaths because the drug users are using safe injection sites (where they can be immediately saved) or they are more visible when overdosing outdoors and so somebody moves to save them.

so then. we should only give single occupancy apartments or hotel units to non drug users. maybe all these free housing units are the cause of record high overdoses in June? we have moved an all time high number of drug users into housing and now they are dying there.

was that the goal of “housing first”? I will have to check my notes but I don’t think it was.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 16 August 2020 - 06:36 AM.

[Rob Randall]

I see the kits Downtown all the time, hanging off belt loops and backpacks. Anyone who interacts with the street community has a kit. And as rough as they look, the street folk look out for each other and can spot an overdose quick. I can believe the theory there are more people dying alone in hotel rooms.

 

Housing First is supposed to bring some stability but overdose deaths would be a disturbing side effect.

[Mike K.]

We’ve discussed housing first’s failure in that regard. I trust that the researchers who backed the current agenda are taking all of this into account for their upcoming research papers and eventual updates to their previous policies.

Now that we have working models, we can put theories aside and focus on actual events and results, yes?

The Capital piece is why journalists shouldn’t interpret relatively complex issues for their readers. This deep dive doesn’t accurately address the situation or make the sorts of inferences it ought to have made about the counterintuitive reality in the real world after years of housing first being pushed as a solution to ending the drug use epidemic and ending the cycle of poverty, and it tries to insinuate that drug-related deaths on our streets are not as serious a matter as they’re believed to be because more people are dying in their homes and are out of mind. But as VW points out, as a radio of the population, the deaths among the street community are insanely high.

[Victoria Watcher]

also "housing first" was supposed to stop some street crime and petty theft and vandalism.  the idea being that with "wrap around" supports there is no reason for jack and jane to be out there stealing your garden gnome.   but that has proven the opposite in neighbourhoods either adjacent to tent encampments or near hotels/supportive housing.  it's like we've given them a base for their illegal operations that they did not have when couch surfing or sleeping rough.

[Victoria Watcher]

if normal timelines hold we should see the july overdose death report early this week.

 

June was the worst month for overdose deaths in B.C. history

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...-2020-1.5652311

[spanky123]

^ Anyone with the ability to reason would challenge why we have the highest per capita overdose rate in North America while we spend more per person on overdose prevention. 

Edited by spanky123, 17 August 2020 - 07:26 AM.

[lanforod]

The part that astounds me is that even with all these deaths, the numbers don't seem to be dropping. Once someone is dead, they can't overdose again, obviously.

It tells me that this is a drop in the bucket for numbers of addicted people/heavy drug users in the province -or- the migration numbers of addicted people to BC are still very strong (yes, I realize that not all of these overdoses may be addicts).

One other way is that these numbers are kind of fudged, similar to Covid deaths - "oh, they died while on crack? Ok, it's an overdose death." - nevermind that it was heart failure caused by too much hard living.

Edited by lanforod, 17 August 2020 - 07:56 AM.

[aastra]

 

^ Anyone with the ability to reason would challenge why we have the highest per capita overdose rate in North America while we spend more per person on overdose prevention.

 

We're not doing enough! Appalling ongoing failures are the strongest indicators of imminent success. We just need to dial up the disaster a bit further and one day it will transform itself into victory.

[Victoria Watcher]

British Columbians on provincial income and disability assistance will continue to receive an extra $300 monthly COVID supplement for the next four months.

 

 

 

 

On Monday, the B.C. government announced that it would extend a crisis supplement that was implemented in April to provide support to disabled and low-income people across the province.

 

 

 

________________

 

 

 

According to the ministry, approximately 258,000 people across British Columbia have benefited from the supplement since it began.

 

 

 

the tc story does not really focus on the welfare bonus it just talks about seniors.

 

https://www.timescol...year-1.24188069

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 August 2020 - 05:35 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

we might be slightly overdue for the july overdose death numbers.  or they are coming out tomorrow.

 

in any event, we know this:

 

 

 

July saw paramedics in British Columbia respond to the highest number of overdose calls in a month since the overdose emergency was declared four years ago.

Across the province, paramedics responded to 2,706 overdose calls in July, well above the usual monthly average of around 2,000 calls, B.C. Emergency Health Services said in an email.

That works out to about 87 calls per day.

 

https://www.cbc.ca/n...calls-1.5675548

 

i also see this:

 

 

 

The ambulance service said the largest number of overdose calls concerned patients between the ages of 21 and 40. Male patients outnumbered female patients almost two to one.

The three cities with the largest number of calls in July were Vancouver with 739, Surrey with 244 and Victoria with 139.

 

 

 

why do we never heard about the gender imbalance?  and i'm not suggesting we should strive to see more female overdoses but what can we learn about female behaviour that can help overall?

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 August 2020 - 01:43 PM.

[On the Level]

We’ve discussed housing first’s failure in that regard. I trust that the researchers who backed the current agenda are taking all of this into account for their upcoming research papers and eventual updates to their previous policies.
 

 

Sadly, I believe unbiased research and education went out the window when UVIC turned to ideology and activism.  

[A Girl is No one]

^^this!!!