3790 replies to this topic

[Rob Randall]

What was shocking about Wayne Samson’s fall is that it came from such a height.

 

what "softer" drugs did he do?  marijuana?  cocaine?  pills?

 

 

Cocaine. He did it in the back of his shop on Blanshard. Doing coke while operating a business in a struggling industry is not recommended.

[Mike K.]

^Damn. That’s sad.

I found out last night a longtime friend who suddenly passed away two weeks ago died from an overdose. I don’t think he was a daily user. This guy had worked on half the highrise units in this town doing what he did. He left behind a young son.

[Dexter]

There is a surprising amount of hard drugs on the large construction sites. Doesn’t take daily use these days. One bump could kill you.

[Matt R.]

I am always surprised by the amount of recreational coke use going on! Risky stuff.

Matt.

[Rob Randall]

Aside from the obvious health risks there's the ethical problem of coke and how the money locals spend on it ends up in the hands of murderous South American cartels. How many Victorian weekend warriors buy organic food and free trade coffee but think nothing of doing the odd celebratory Saturday night bump.

[Victoria Watcher]

air pollution from the energy industry kills 100,000x more people than the murderous cartels.

who thinks nothing of taking a diesel bus on Saturday night?

[Rob Randall]

That's a weak argument. You could use that as permission to excuse any type of sordid behaviour. Society is moving away from fossil fuels about as quickly as we are able to. The route from a coke user's wallet to the cartel is far more direct. 

[Victoria Watcher]

That's a weak argument. You could use that as permission to excuse any type of sordid behaviour. Society is moving away from fossil fuels about as quickly as we are able to. The route from a coke user's wallet to the cartel is far more direct. 

 

coke should probably be available the same as cigarettes.  that would be the best route.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t rule out institutions

 

Re: “People are living in squalor in Victoria; we need to do these things to help them,” comment, March 9

It is with thanks and relief that I read Joni Hockert’s opinion piece.

Finally, someone with real-life experience dealing with the homeless, mentally ill and addicted has expressed many of my thoughts on this social tragedy and has taken the time to provide suggestions on how we should be addressing it, including: “that may mean providing care to those who claim not to want it.”

De-institutionalization has failed us. My grandmother spent the last 26 years of her life in Essondale and then Riverview Hospital because of her severe bipolar disorder.

As a child, I spent hours playing on the lawns of the facility while my parents visited her. It was not a happy family situation, but I am now comforted knowing she was housed, fed and treated for her illness.

 

 

She did not have “the freedom” to be on the streets, being chased by her demons and criminal predators. It was a more compassionate approach than what we have now.

I urge our governments to get over their aversion to providing sick, homeless people with institutions that will care for them. It is part of what a compassionate society must do.

Lynn Hunter
Victoria

 

https://www.timescol...less-1.24293453

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 March 2021 - 06:39 AM.

[Mike K.]

Aside from the obvious health risks there's the ethical problem of coke and how the money locals spend on it ends up in the hands of murderous South American cartels. How many Victorian weekend warriors buy organic food and free trade coffee but think nothing of doing the odd celebratory Saturday night bump.

That’s got to be a relatively serious addiction at this point. Sure, you’re not doing it everyday, but you’re taking a drug that can instantly kill you. In the case of my friend I would assume his addiction was already there but controlled, maybe?

[Rob Randall]

I think that's what did in Wayne Samson. I'm sure whatever killed him was not the same predictable powdered coke he did back in the 90s. I'm not even sure you can buy relatively pure powdered coke here any more. Back in the day you would just buy it off a bouncer at one of the Downtown nightclubs. My co-workers would do that every weekend.

Edited by Rob Randall, 12 March 2021 - 07:54 AM.

[gstc84]

I think that's what did in Wayne Samson. I'm sure whatever killed him was not the same predictable powdered coke he did back in the 90s. I'm not even sure you can buy relatively pure powdered coke here any more. Back in the day you would just buy it off a bouncer at one of the Downtown nightclubs. My co-workers would do that every weekend.

 

Yeah, back when I was at uVic, Sopranos was more known as the place to buy coke than it was as a karaoke bar.

[Victoria Watcher]

this treatment centre has been put up for sale:

 

 

 

 

Prime Victoria location in James Bay. A Heritage Designated REVENUE PROPERTY. Zoning permits Bed and Breakfast, Special Care Homes, Residential Treatment Centres to name a few. The property has been sensitively renovated to accommodate a treatment centre.The 1901 character residence of 3,649 square feet consists of one main kitchen, a living room, dining/board room & 7 separate bedrooms each with their own new bathroom. The building will attract high quality tenants who benefit from easy access to a significant cross section of local amenities. Excellent walking area close to numerous parks and beaches. Features include: site size of 6,480 SF, intercom system, code entry, central vac system, electric baseboard heating +2 hot water tanks, shared laundry room with 4 oversized machines, thermal windows, elevator, on-site parking. Property could be easily converted into a residence. The possibilities with this business zoned property in coveted James Bay neighbourhood are endless.

 

https://www.realtor....toria-james-bay

 

 

 

 

looks like it was "recoveryworks".

 

https://www.alignabl...ion-treatment-2

 

Alcohol and drug addiction treatment.

 

Recovery Works treats men 18 years and older for drug and alcohol addiction. Our clinical residence is located in a fully restored heritage house in James Bay.

 

We are the lowest cost inpatient treatment centre on Vancouver Island at $300 per day for a minimum of 30 days. 

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 12 March 2021 - 09:38 AM.

[Nparker]

So will there be a bidding war to become the owner of a ready-to-go treatment centre? There certainly should be no shortage of business.

[Sparky]

This facility is/was connected with Cedars Treatment Centre in Cobble Hill.

Very well run.

[Matt R.]

Aside from the obvious health risks there's the ethical problem of coke and how the money locals spend on it ends up in the hands of murderous South American cartels. How many Victorian weekend warriors buy organic food and free trade coffee but think nothing of doing the odd celebratory Saturday night bump.

Oh, no. We have only the finest, local and organic product here. The locals demand ethical coke.

Matt.

[pontcanna]

Comment: Closing institutions abandons those most in need

 

Gail Simpson - MARCH 18, 2021

The Provincial Mental Hospital in Coquitlam was known to its neighbouring suburbanites as Essondale.

A commentary by a retired social worker.

One of the advantages of being old is that you may be lucky enough to say “I told you so” to the world.

Tragically for the people involved, many of them had lives that were totally disrupted and in some cases lost, while the authorities tried to prove the advantages of the New Order.

Those were exciting days. De-institutionalization was the rallying call: “Back to the community.” I was very uncomfortable with some elements of the changes, but as a student my job was to keep an open mind.

At first, the changes were exhilarating, There was plenty of money available to assist the folks coming out of the institution. If people needed special dental work while hospitalized, for example, they were given dental care free of charge in the hospital. No one wondered who would pay when they lived “in the community.”

 

More: https://www.timescol...need-1.24295951

 

 

[Victoria Watcher]

article is very short on program specifics. will it include training and counselling on how to use drugs safely on the job site?



A new harm reduction project focuses on addictions in the Vancouver Island construction industry.

The province is investing $250,000 in the Tailgate Toolkit Project, a three-phase strategy targeted to trades workers, who make up a large number of overdose deaths.

https://www.vicnews....trades-workers/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 18 March 2021 - 02:55 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

155 overdose deaths in B.C. marks deadliest February on record

The pandemic has led to increased isolation and a more toxic drug supply

 

This was the deadliest February on record since the overdose crisis began nearly five years ago in B.C. with a 107 per cent increase over the same month last year.

 

February saw 5.5 people die per day, compared to an average of 4.7 people per day for 2020, when 1,724 people died in total.

____________________

 

Data for the first two months of 2021 show that 81 per cent of those dying were male and that the highest number of deaths were reported in Vancouver, Surrey and Victoria.

_______________________

 

Of the year’s 329 deaths, 192 – or 58 per cent – were in private residences, while 92 – or 28 per cent – were in other residences. An additional 36 – 10.9 per cent – were outside.

 

https://www.vicnews....roners-service/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

that last bit is the usual gymnastics to try to normalize things.  81 percent lake.  we are doing a terrible job on gender parity here.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 24 March 2021 - 11:33 AM.

[UDeMan]

you would think they would eventually run out of people.

 

anyway, whatever they are doing is not working.

[spanky123]

Seems like pot may be addictive after all. https://www.bnnbloom...study-1.1583717

 

Teenagers’ addiction rates for cannabis are about the same as for prescription opioids, according to a new study of drugs and youth.

 

Emily Einstein, one of the study’s authors, said a rise in cannabis’ potency in recent years could help to explain the higher addiction rates. She cited separate studies that have found marijuana with higher levels of THC to be more addictive