3790 replies to this topic

[Nparker]

Governments can't wait to have a significant segment of the population entirely dependent on them for their income and "medication". They got a taste of this power with COVID and now they need to find a way to make it permanent.

[Victoria Watcher]

The failure of measures during the six-year-and-counting public health emergency effort to reduce deaths is now an accepted fact of life. Malcolmson acknowledged it again Tuesday.

 

“We continue to lose lives at a terrible and unprecedented level due to the terribly increased toxic drug supply. … Innovation and determination have been outpaced by the increases in illicit drug toxicity.”

 

A death review in March found twice as many people are now dying than when the overdose crisis was first declared in 2016.

 

 

https://www.timescol...n-drugs-5429265

[Victoria Watcher]

Lapointe called the three-year trial, which starts in January, encouraging if it leads to less stigma for drug users. “I’m really hopeful that this signifies a dramatic shift in how we view and recognize that people who use drugs are not criminals and are only criminals now because there is a law that says they’re criminals.”

While decriminalization alone won’t save lives, said Lapointe, it could when paired with a regulated safe supply of drugs for people dependent on their use.

Up until about 2013, people buying street drugs largely got the drug they expected, but then illicit and highly concentrated fentanyl — much stronger than heroin — started being cut into other drugs, killing unsuspecting users.

https://www.timescol...coroner-5434067

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 June 2022 - 07:39 AM.

[Nparker]

Lapointe called the three-year trial, which starts in January, encouraging if it leads to less stigma for drug users...

But zero concern about reducing drug use. As a society, why should we accept that some people MUST be addicts? Why is treatment not the primary approach? If addiction is an illness, why is there not more emphasis on making people well? Do we treat any other illness like this? Quite literally, the current plan is to just keep people ill and addicted forever. I just don't understand this.

[Nparker]

...While decriminalization alone won’t save lives, said Lapointe, it could when paired with a regulated safe supply of drugs for people dependent on their use...

No, it should be paired with treatment to get better.

[Victoria Watcher]

A man who blamed his surgeon for continuing pain after a recent back surgery bought an AR-style rifle hours before he opened fire at a Tulsa, Okla., medical office, killing the doctor and three other people in an attack that ended with him taking his own life, police said Thursday.

The gunman called the clinic repeatedly complaining of pain and specifically targeted the doctor who performed the surgery, Tulsa police Chief Wendell Franklin said.



https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6475128






No there’s a guy that could have used some pain medication.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 02 June 2022 - 11:04 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

Canada's toxic drug supply problem can't be fixed by decriminalizing the possession of small quantities of drugs alone — a move that advocates say is a step in the right direction but a far cry from addressing the worsening overdose crisis.

https://www.cbc.ca/n...ation-1.6477015

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 June 2022 - 01:51 AM.

[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, 04 June 2022 - 01:52 AM.

[Victoria Watcher]

B.C. will decriminalize up to 2.5 grams of hard drugs. Drug users say that threshold won't decriminalize them

Bulk buying, spread of fentanyl means many entrenched drug users carry more than 2.5 grams

https://www.cbc.ca/n...shold-1.6477327

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 June 2022 - 04:07 AM.

[JimV]

I read an interesting article about Oregon’s experience with this approach.  (Due to weirdness in my email I can’t post the link but it’s by Jeff Reynold in the June 3 issue of pjmedia.com)

 

In brief:  In Nov 2020 they passed a referendum decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs.  Anyone arrested would not be charged but would be given a citation and a fine of $100.  A person could avoid the fine by calling a hot line number to discuss treatment.  A rather extensive treatment system was part of the program.

 

In the first year 1,885 tickets were issued.  Only 91 called the hotline and few of those had any interest in getting treatment.  Of the first 68 that called only 11 were eventually connected to treatment.  
 

The planned treatment system has basically failed to materialize.  Part of the reason is that it applies statewide and has a lot of strings attached (e.g. must be culturally appropriate, etc.)  Most communities don’t have the resources to provide these services.

 

One state representative reports that since the policy was adopted ODs in her district have risen by 700%.

[aastra]

 

One state representative reports that since the policy was adopted ODs in her district have risen by 700%.

 

Baffling and utterly unpredictable. Who could have possibly predicted that the government's drug policies would continually be aggravating the issues, year over year?*

 

*absolutely anyone who has eyes & ears, a functioning memory, the ability to think logically, and an honest understanding of human nature

[Victoria Watcher]

Oregon overdose rates soared by 700% after decriminalizing ALL drugs last year: Officials admit millions in funding for treatment centers was held up and few offenders even bothered to use them but insist they will continue the scheme


https://www.dailymai...nalization.html

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

[Stephen James]

Oregon overdose rates soared by 700% after decriminalizing ALL drugs last year: Officials admit millions in funding for treatment centers was held up and few offenders even bothered to use them but insist they will continue the scheme


https://www.dailymai...nalization.html

"as one Republican politician said there had been a 700 percent in overdoses in her district in the last year."

I can only find this one comment. No reference to research, data, nothing...?

The issue matters to me because 30 years ago I struggled with substance abuse.

[Victoria Watcher]

Are you at risk of relapse when the change happens?



"I have never seen it to the level where people are overdosing at these high numbers in all the different cities we have here in southern Oregon and across the west coast," said Lt. Hattersley

According to the Grants Pass Police Department, overdoses across the city increased by more than 100% from 2020 to 2021, and deaths increased by 500%. A large majority of that increase, being linked to fentanyl.

On top of that, Grants Pass police are reporting roughly 27,000 fentanyl pills were seized during the 2021 year, but that data does not include the powdered form of the drug.

https://www.kdrv.com...ad9c8d.amp.html

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 04 June 2022 - 11:37 AM.

[Stephen James]

I read an interesting article about Oregon’s experience with this approach.  (Due to weirdness in my email I can’t post the link but it’s by Jeff Reynold in the June 3 issue of pjmedia.com)

 

In brief:  In Nov 2020 they passed a referendum decriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs.  Anyone arrested would not be charged but would be given a citation and a fine of $100.  A person could avoid the fine by calling a hot line number to discuss treatment.  A rather extensive treatment system was part of the program.

 

In the first year 1,885 tickets were issued.  Only 91 called the hotline and few of those had any interest in getting treatment.  Of the first 68 that called only 11 were eventually connected to treatment.  
 

The planned treatment system has basically failed to materialize.  Part of the reason is that it applies statewide and has a lot of strings attached (e.g. must be culturally appropriate, etc.)  Most communities don’t have the resources to provide these services.

 

One state representative reports that since the policy was adopted ODs in her district have risen by 700%.

I looked. Interested for the reasons mentioned above.

 

This article by Jeff Reynolds seems like a bunch of ranting. The only thing he reports is the same article from the Daily Mail which, as mentioned above, does nothing but quote someone. No data, no research, nothing... just the world of some guy. Jesus. Is this as good as it gets or is there actually research?

 

I'm interested in real research. Will check back.

[Barrrister]

Taco, no idea about the indiviual congressespersons area, but overdose deaths have doubled from 2019 to 2021

[Stephen James]

Are you at risk of relapse when the change happens?
 

 

This comment reveals your breathtaking ignorance on the topic.

Good bye.

[Barrrister]

Taco, looking forward to you reporting back with some real research numbers. I think a good place for you to start is with the individual county reports in Oregon.

[Victoria Watcher]

Comment: Despite the talk of harm reduction, we are going the wrong way

When harm reduction was introduced more than 20 years ago, it was supposed to be one pillar of a four-pillar approach that also included education, enforcement and treatment. That simply hasn’t happened.

 

 

More than a decade ago, in a de-stigmatization effort, a British charity placed advertisements on the sides of some of London’s double-decker buses proclaiming: Nice People Take Drugs.

The ads were ultimately pulled but not before generating considerable debate and international media attention. A win, I guess, for the advertiser.

 

While it’s true that nice people take drugs, I’ve always thought the message was incomplete. A more accurate one might have been: Nice People Take Drugs but Then Many of Them Do Not So Nice Things — Like Neglect Their Children or Steal from Their Loved Ones or Break Into Cars and Houses to Feed Their Habit.

 

Of course that message wouldn’t have fit very well on the side of a bus (and wouldn’t have been on brand as far as the advertiser was concerned) — but it’s probably closer to the truth than what was used.

 

The old ad campaign came to mind as I read of the latest effort by federal and provincial authorities to de-stigmatize hard drug use by decriminalizing possession of small amounts of hard drugs including fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and MDMA.

 

Of course, the change won’t make a whit of difference on the street where possession of small amounts of drugs has for years been de facto decriminalized as police turned a blind eye to it. (In fact, police have had no choice but to ignore possession as the province has licensed supervised consumption sites. They can’t very well arrest people carrying their illegal drugs into a consumption site where they are being encouraged to use them.)

 

 

 

 

https://www.timescol...ong-way-5446617

 

 

 

We’ve gone from distributing clean drug supplies, to opening supervised areas for people to inject, to testing illegal drugs for toxicity, to decriminalizing possession. Every step of the way overdose deaths have increased, not decreased. Now the calls are getting louder for a safer supply.

 

I’ve witnessed, on more than one occasion, a person injecting drugs in broad daylight while panhandling on a Victoria sidewalk outside a coffee shop about a block from Pandora’s supervised consumption site. I somehow doubt it’s shame and stigma holding that person back from seeking help.

 

Ironically, we are told stigmatization of some behaviours — drunk driving comes to mind — is a good thing and necessary to stamp out the carnage on the roads while at the same time we are expected to swallow the notion that stigmatization and shame are major players in people not seeking help for their addictions.

 

_________________________

 

I’ve been fortunate enough to be clean and sober since 2002. Recently while snowbirding in Arizona, I attended a daily morning 12-step meeting. I noticed that some attendees were having the chairperson sign a slip attesting to their participation. I initially thought they needed the slips signed because they were court-ordered. It turned out the attendance slips were from their sober living facility.

 

Some had been struggling with drugs; some with alcohol, and most, as is often the case these days, both. Many of their stories, which unfolded in bits and pieces over the course of the two months we were there, were often both tragic and inspirational.

 

As is often the case at these meetings, there were tears and there was laughter. I was inspired by tales told by mothers having the opportunity to spend time with their kids again or by young men and women talking of the anxiety and joys of returning to work or school. Many often expressed gratitude for having a safe, sober place to rebuild their lives.

 

_____________________________

 

In B.C., we take a different approach. Recovery through abstinence is seen as some sort of an unrealistic relic of the past. Rather than providing safe, sober places for people to live with conditions that have to be met for them to remain there, the vast majority of social housing is focused on lessening the harms for those who use drugs. Supervised injection or inhalation sites are often included within the complexes.

 

The notion is that in order to provide treatment, you have to first keep people alive.

 

The problem is that the prospect of treatment for the vast majority is a lie. There aren’t anywhere near enough beds and hoops they have to jump through to get one are too many and too expensive. They stay forever trapped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, I hope all will click through and read the full article.  I posted lots of excerpts because it's so on point.

Edited by Victoria Watcher, 06 June 2022 - 03:52 AM.

[Mike K.]

I saw a man cooking up drugs in a spoon as he stood at the corner of Quadra and Johnson. Right in front of anyone who cared to look, in the middle of the sidewalk. There was no stigma there, in that moment.