3790 replies to this topic

[dasmo]

The Government works against the community model is the problem....

The 193-acre organic farm has been operating for eight years now, providing those struggling with addictions, homelessness or mental health challenges with a therapeutic community that gives them the tools needed to integrate back into society. Those who come to the farm are mainly men, ranging in age from 19 to 60, and stay for an average of 18 months.

he stumbled upon a free therapeutic community in Italy called San Patrignano, which has become the largest therapeutic work community in the world with 1,800 participants at a time. In 30 years, San Patrignano has helped more than 20,000 people. Seventy percent of them are still drug-free years later.

“Everybody has something meaningful and purposeful to do here every day,” said Leblanc about Woodwynn. “Over and over again you’re watching people that might die. You help them out and they move on with their life.”

 

Although the facility has attracted a large crew of volunteers, and thousands of donors, service clubs and church groups to help out, it’s still trying to get fully off the ground, due to an eight-year battle between the Creating Homefulness Society (Woodwynn’s operator) and municipal authorities over the housing and operations of the farm. 

 

Despite the society’s commitment to farming, some people and politicians are still firmly opposed to Woodwynn. Central Saanich council has refused to amend bylaws to permit the facilities necessary to house the labour force needed to grow more produce, and has even taken the matter to BC Supreme Court. Effort is now being made to settle the matter out of court.

 

https://www.focusonv...id-crisis-r101/

[Victoria Watcher]

^ ^ and of course missing from the Portugal example again, is that it’s “treatment or jail/fine/community service” there. And drug confiscation too.



In 2001, Portugal decriminalised the personal possession of all drugs as part of a wider re-orientation of policy towards a health-led approach. Possessing drugs for personal use is instead treated as an administrative offence, meaning it is no longer punishable by imprisonment and does not result in a criminal record and associated stigma.1 Drugs are, however, still confiscated and possession may result in administrative penalties such as fines or community service.


https://transformdru...record-straight

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 30 May 2022 - 08:57 AM.

[dasmo]

^ ^ and of course missing from the Portugal example again, is that it’s “treatment or jail/fine/community service” there. And drug confiscation too.



In 2001, Portugal decriminalised the personal possession of all drugs as part of a wider re-orientation of policy towards a health-led approach. Possessing drugs for personal use is instead treated as an administrative offence, meaning it is no longer punishable by imprisonment and does not result in a criminal record and associated stigma.1 Drugs are, however, still confiscated and possession may result in administrative penalties such as fines or community service.


https://transformdru...record-straight

Sure. This is also part of our problem. Our poverty industry is all yin. You need the yang too. You need harm reduction AND enforcement to protect the public space and living conditions for everyone. If you are all yang you live in a gestapo state. All yin, well...you have what we have. 

For instance I am a supporter of the right to sleep legislation. But they should enforce the pack it up at 7:00 AM. They don't. 

[Nparker]

The Government works against the community model is the problem...

While I agree that government has royally ****ed up what Woodwyn has been trying to achieve, I still believe that for many with significant mental health issues, the only humane treatment is to be found through hospitalization or at the very least 24/7 care of some sort.

[Mike K.]

I thought heroin use is down everywhere, predominantly due to synthetic opioids being more readily available and cheaper.

[Victoria Watcher]

The federal government is set to make today what it's calling an "important announcement" with the British Columbia government on the overdose crisis.

Mental Health and Addictions Minister Carolyn Bennett is scheduled to join her provincial counterpart, Sheila Malcolmson, in Vancouver to provide details on what an advisory says is a public health approach focused on reducing harms and saving lives.


https://www.cbc.ca/n...anada-1.6471878

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 May 2022 - 04:59 AM.

[Nparker]

Let me guess. My tax dollars are going to be used to supply "clean" drugs for addicts with no proviso that treatment should be part of the arrangement.

[Victoria Watcher]

Let me guess. My tax dollars are going to be used to supply "clean" drugs for addicts with no proviso that treatment should be part of the arrangement.

 

You forgot that they will also have some plan to "reduce the stigma".

[Nparker]

You forgot that they will also have some plan to "reduce the stigma".

Does any stigma remain? Isn't safe use of illicit drugs and/or free samples part of the education curriculum now?

[Victoria Watcher]

B.C. to decriminalize small amounts of drugs, first province granted exemption


The province has been granted a federal exemption from Health Canada to make the move in an effort to address the ongoing health crisis.

As of Jan. 31, 2023, people 18 and over in B.C. will not be arrested or charged for having up to a cumulative amount of 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA for personal possession. This limit is less than the 4.5 grams B.C. initially asked for in its request last year.

The exemption period is set to be in place for three years, ending on Jan. 31, 2026. Health Canada notes the exemption may be revoked or replaced by another exemption.

A number of restrictions will also be in place.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 May 2022 - 10:20 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

And where has this plan worked well?

[Nparker]

Because the thrill of using an illegal substance is the only reason people become addicts.

[dasmo]

Decriminalizing use is fine with me. But... public deification should be the death penalty. 

[dasmo]

I certainly don't miss having to step over a pile to enter my office anymore.... 

[Victoria Watcher]

The poster published by the NYC Department of Health tells riders "Don't be ashamed you are using, be empowered that you are using safely," as part of an apparent overdose prevention effort. The ad also urges riders to use drugs in groups and to test drugs for fentanyl.

Borelli said the ad emphasizes the "absolutely backward" priorities of NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan.

"This is someone that still puts masks on the toddlers, still makes student-athletes not play sports if they are not vaccinated, all this because of a risk," he told "America Reports." "And yet, here we are urging people who want to use heroin or potentially would use meth or crack or anything to go slow, take turns, start small, you are ‘empowered.’ This is the absolute wrong message in a city where drug use is on the rise, drug overdoses are on the rise," Borelli said, "and we’re doing exactly the opposite of what we should be doing."


https://www.foxnews....heroin-fentanyl

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 May 2022 - 02:30 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Leslie McBain was thrilled to learn that B.C. can move forward with its plans to decriminalize small-scale drug possession. But until there's a safe supply of legal drugs in Canada, she says people will continue to die.

McBain's son, Jordan Miller, died of an overdose in 2014. Now she advocates for harm reduction policies through Moms Stop the Harm, a network of families affected by drug addiction and drug-related deaths.

https://www.cbc.ca/r...rdose-1.6472691

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 May 2022 - 03:26 PM.

[spanky123]

Because the thrill of using an illegal substance is the only reason people become addicts.

 

It has been years since VicPD charged anyone for possession of small amounts of drugs (unless it was related to another crime). Nothing new here. I agree with others in that the real motivation is to allow the poverty pimps to hand out free drugs. They need to keep replacing the ones that are dying off to keep the money coming in.

 

As we all know, nobody ever died of an overdose prior to fentanyl. 

Edited by spanky123, 31 May 2022 - 03:45 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

As a result of the announcement, B.C. will not only be the first in Canada but the first jurisdiction in North America to decriminalize possession of small amounts of harder drugs like opioids and methamphetamine. Oregon decriminalized possession in 2020, but unlike in B.C., drugs could still be seized and users could be fined US$100.


https://www.cheknews...crisis-1039964/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 May 2022 - 04:03 PM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Rising number of suicide attempts among young children worries NW physicians, poison centers


https://www.seattlet...poison-centers/


Dr. Rebecca Marshall became increasingly concerned as she did rounds in the ER at a children’s hospital in Portland.

More young children than usual — and girls in particular — were being brought to the hospital after swallowing medications to attempt suicide. Children of jarringly young ages, some just 9 or 10, were seeking out pills in the family medicine cabinet. As Marshall tried to come to grips with what she was witnessing, she’d make a point to ask: Why did you think about ending your life?

________

Use of medications or other poisons to attempt suicide or self-harm are rising among youths as young as 9, and the largest increases are among those ages 10-12. The number of kids in that age group who ingested some type of poisonous medication or other substance to attempt suicide increased by 4.5 times from 2000 to 2020, according to one of the national studies, published in JAMA Pediatrics in March, compared to a 2.4-fold increase among older adolescents.





Not mentioned in the article. But obvious to me. It’s social media.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 31 May 2022 - 04:17 PM.

[sebberry]

As a result of the announcement, B.C. will not only be the first in Canada but the first jurisdiction in North America to decriminalize possession of small amounts of harder drugs like opioids and methamphetamine. Oregon decriminalized possession in 2020, but unlike in B.C., drugs could still be seized and users could be fined US$100.


https://www.cheknews...crisis-1039964/

 

Excellent! All that freedom advocacy is getting us somewhere!