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Addiction and mental illness in Victoria


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#1641 Nparker

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Posted 31 May 2022 - 05:57 PM

Can someone please explain to me how legalizing possession of illicit drugs makes them safer to use and reduces the likelihood of overdosing?



#1642 sebberry

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Posted 31 May 2022 - 06:42 PM

Can someone please explain to me how legalizing possession of illicit drugs makes them safer to use and reduces the likelihood of overdosing?

 

Well, shouldn't we be more concerned about the freedom to choose regardless of the outcome?


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#1643 Nparker

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Posted 31 May 2022 - 07:22 PM

As long as I am not paying for it, I don't really care. 



#1644 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 12:42 AM

Can someone please explain to me how legalizing possession of illicit drugs makes them safer to use and reduces the likelihood of overdosing?


Reduced stigma?

#1645 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 05:08 AM

An Oak Bay woman who lost her son to a toxic drug overdose isn’t convinced the federal government’s plan to decriminalize personal amounts of illicit drugs will save lives.That’s because police in the region haven’t arrested people for personal possession for some time, said Rachel Staples, whose son Elliot Eurchuk died in 2018 at age 16.

“Decriminalizing is not a bold move — it’s what’s been happening anyways,” said Staples.

“A bold move would be to supply a safe drug supply for people who can’t live without it.”

In an exemption to the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act announced Tuesday, those age 18 and older in B.C. will be allowed to possess a cumulative 2.5 grams of opioids including fentanyl and heroin, cocaine, crack cocaine, methamphetamine and MDMA for personal use.

https://www.timescol...t-drugs-5429267




I find it quite hard to believe their child “could not live without it”.





However, DeBeck said the centre’s studies show “extremely conservative” estimates of drug-consumption volumes for people most at risk as four to 13 grams for opiates, five to 14 grams for cocaine, and six to 19 grams for amphetamines.

“So a cumulative threshold of 2.5 grams is really just a lot lower than, you know, what are very conservative estimates,” said DeBeck, calling it a cautious and moderate policy.





^ per what time period? If you are using 5 to 14 grams of cocaine per week you are in big trouble.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 June 2022 - 05:12 AM.


#1646 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 12:57 PM

B.C.’s green light to decriminalize 2.5 grams of street drugs – the latest move to curb staggering toxic drug poisonings – is being viewed by a group of Victoria mothers as a good start, but the threshold needs to be increased.

 

Beginning on Jan. 31, 2023, British Columbians 18 and older will be allowed to carry up to 2.5 grams of street drugs on them, which can include opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine or MDMA.

 

It’s an appreciated step forward – and a small one that was needed long ago, said Moms Stop the Harm member Kathleen Radu, but falls two grams short of the 4.5-gram possession amount requested by the province to Health Canada.

 

“To have it come out at 2.5-level feels like a pit in our stomach,” she said, adding that as the province pilots prescription alternatives, such a small amount will just drive drug users further into the dangerous and toxic illicit market.

 

Radu lost her son, Morgan Goodridge, to carfentanil poisoning just days after he turned 26 in 2020. It came on his sixth relapse and after 18 months of treatment. Carfentanil, used to tranquilize elephants, is 100 times more deadly than illicit fentanyl.

 

 

 

https://www.vicnews....ion-too-little/


Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 June 2022 - 12:57 PM.


#1647 Nparker

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 01:13 PM

So if her son could legally have possessed more carfentinil laced drugs, he'd still be alive?

#1648 mbjj

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 01:45 PM

Can someone please explain to me how legalizing possession of illicit drugs makes them safer to use and reduces the likelihood of overdosing?

I don't get it either. Am I dense or something? 



#1649 dasmo

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 02:07 PM

Because then the government can sell it! Or should I say give it away. We will be buying it. Just like gambling and other drugs if it’s distributed by the government it’s safe.

#1650 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 02:23 PM

It really doesn’t make sense, on its own.

#1651 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 02:36 PM

The federal government says it's open to further decriminalization of small-scale possession of hard drugs in jurisdictions across the country, while the Conservatives say they support what they call a health-based approach to drug addiction.

Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett said Wednesday that while it's the government's goal to expand decriminalization, it must be done in concert with local governments and reflect reality in each part of the country.

"The four drugs that are in the plan in B.C. may not be the four drugs that another part of Canada would want in their application, so there are different local realities," Bennett said.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...anada-1.6474167

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 June 2022 - 02:37 PM.


#1652 Nparker

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 02:59 PM

Because then the government can sell it! Or should I say give it away. We will be buying it. Just like gambling and other drugs if it’s distributed by the government it’s safe.


This in no way deals with the reality of addiction.

#1653 dasmo

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 03:03 PM

This in no way deals with the reality of addiction.

A good dealer wants a functional addict not a dead one. 



#1654 dasmo

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 03:13 PM

insert sarcasm emoji 



#1655 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 03:51 PM

“It leaves the majority of us behind,” says Garth Mullins, who represented the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (VANDU) on B.C.’s core planning table for decriminalization.

He says 2.5 grams may have been realistic several decades ago when there was still a clean supply of drugs, but that things are different now. The effects of fentanyl, for example, don’t last as long as straight heroin, Mullins says. This forces people to use drugs more frequently throughout the day.

The introduction of fentanyl has also meant people have developed higher tolerances, Mullins adds. And, he says, more people are polydrug users now, making the cumulative threshold unrealistically low.


https://www.vicnews....-b-c-advocates/

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 June 2022 - 03:52 PM.


#1656 Nparker

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 04:03 PM

This is the most pathetic argument for legalization of illicit drugs I have ever seen. Only an addict could support this.


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#1657 Victoria Watcher

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 04:09 PM

People should not be using illicit drugs, generally. If they are addicted, they should seek treatment and substitute prescription drugs to manage pain.

But it also seemed odd to see MDMA and crystal meth on the list. I don’t think either is extensively used for pain management.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 01 June 2022 - 04:11 PM.


#1658 JimV

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 04:50 PM

This step is just the foot in the door.  What the advocates want is a reliable supply of pharmaceutical grade drugs provided free by the government.  And that, you see, will solve the problem and everybody will live happily ever after.



#1659 Nparker

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 05:06 PM

Permanent addiction on the taxpayer's dime. Sounds like Utopia.

#1660 On the Level

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Posted 01 June 2022 - 06:49 PM

Housing first with free drugs and a free wage with universal guaranteed income, all paid for by the new land tax and defunding the police.  What could go wrong?


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