3808 replies to this topic

[VicHockeyFan]

An end to the "drunk tank"?

 

 

Death in drunk tank spurs call to stop jailing intoxicated people

 

Alternatives such as sobering centres and managed alcohol programs exist elsewhere in Canada

 

 

 

http://www.cbc.ca/ne...ogram-1.4436099

[Lou_76]

Harm reduction works but ONLY when there are treatment AND prevention programs along with it. Harm reduction keeps people alive. Good! But people need to then be given treatment when they're ready.  

 

Prevention, starting with kids, is the key to long term success. People point to Portugal. THIS is what they did. They legalized drugs but they also took these other steps.

 

The drug war is stupid, a simpleminded waste of money and life. A narrow focus on harm reduction is similarly taken with blinders on.  

[RFS]

Harm reduction works but ONLY when there are treatment AND prevention programs along with it. Harm reduction keeps people alive. Good! But people need to then be given treatment when they're ready.

Prevention, starting with kids, is the key to long term success. People point to Portugal. THIS is what they did. They legalized drugs but they also took these other steps.

The drug war is stupid, a simpleminded waste of money and life. A narrow focus on harm reduction is similarly taken with blinders on.

I agree with all of this except the “when they are ready”. Harm reduction AND prevention, ready or not. Anyone with experience dealing with an Addict will tell you that you will wait forever and get taken advantage of. Doesn’t do anyone any good

[Lou_76]

In Portugal - you get sent to treatment centres instead of jail. If people are committing petty crimes that should be an option - chosen by the courts. I don't support locking people up or forcing them into treatment just for choosing to put a substance in their own body.

 

I agree with all of this except the “when they are ready”. Harm reduction AND prevention, ready or not. Anyone with experience dealing with an Addict will tell you that you will wait forever and get taken advantage of. Doesn’t do anyone any good

[VicHockeyFan]

In Portugal you get a choice, treatment centre or jail (if you are shown to re-offend or not choose treatment).

[Mike K.]

And how’s that working out for Portugal’s substance abusers?

[Sparky]

^ They didn't like the options. They are moving to Victoria.

[Mike K.]

Where some folks are pushing to allow hard drugs in jail.

[tjv]

^They don't allow cigarettes in jail, good luck with that

[VicHockeyFan]

Look, Portugal basically has a mandated treatment program, I think we'd all like that here.  It's not anything close to a "all drugs are legal" policy.  All drugs remain illegal in Portugal, it's just that offenders are dealt with differently when caught with small amounts.

 

Goulão himself is skeptical of some aspects of marijuana reform in places like the United States, which he says can conflate medical use with recreational markets. "Sometimes I feel the promoters of this discussion are mixing things together using a lack of intellectual seriousness," he said.

 

Though heroin use is often highlighted to show the efficacy of Portugal's model, today most users that come before panels are in fact caught with either hashish or cannabis, said Nuno Capaz, a sociologist who serves on Lisbon's dissuasion panel. Between 80 to 85 percent of all people who report to the panels are first-time offenders and deemed to be recreational users, meaning their cases are suspended.

 

For those who have been repeatedly caught or are identified as addicts, the panels can order sanctions or treatment. Recreational users may face fines or be ordered to provide community service. If an addict refuses treatment, they are required to check in regularly with their "family doctor" — the medical professional in the person's locality that provides checkups and other services to them under Portugal's free national healthcare program. Such a close, pre-existing relationship between medical professionals and Portuguese residents is another feature of the model, and one that could be hard to replicate in a country like the US.

 

"If the person doesn't show up at the doctor, we ask the police to personally hand them a notification so they know they are supposed to be in a specific place," said Capaz. "The important part is to maintain the connection to the treatment system."

 

The role of police coordinating with health officials to ensure treatment demonstrates the altered relationship between them and drug users over the past decade and a half, and one that contrasts dramatically with how police orient themselves in countries like the US.

 

https://news.vice.co...-weed-to-heroin

Edited by VicHockeyFan, 09 December 2017 - 08:10 AM.

[Greg]

It's one thing that the burden of dealing with addiction and homelessness falls overwhelmingly on Downtown Victoria while the rest of the CRD sits on their thumbs, but this seems ridiculous to me. What is the real issue between Saanich and Woodwynn Farm? Because on the surface at least, what Woodwynn is doing is exactly what should be happening to help these folks.

 

https://www.vicnews...._medium=twitter

 

"“No Occupancy” orders “were posted by municipal officials on Woodwynn Farms’ Treatment Centre housing units"

[Jackerbie]

The supervised injection site at Johnson Street Community is now open, apparently: http://www.cbc.ca/ne...treet-1.4448690

[Nparker]

I can't see any problems with this idea    

Making a safe opioid available in vending machines may be the next harm reduction tool to fight the deadly overdose epidemic, says the executive medical director of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control. Dr. Mark Tyndall said he envisions a regulated system where drug users would be assessed, registered and issued a card to use in vending machines to obtain hydromorphone, a painkiller commonly marketed under the brand name Dilaudid...

https://www.vicnews....nding-machines/

 

[VicHockeyFan]

All these ideas do nothing to decrease drug dependency, that's the problem with all of them.  SHOW ME THE SUCCESS STORIES!

[Nparker]

All these ideas do nothing to decrease drug dependency, that's the problem with all of them...

All plans seem to begin and end with "harm reduction", and rarely address getting people well or dealing with the underlying causes of addiction. Give everyone "clean" drugs and -  voila! - problem solved. 

[LJ]

^Or let them continue to use street drugs, take away the naloxone kits, and - voila! - problem solved.

 

As a bonus the housing "crisis" would be lessened.

[Nparker]

^Or let them continue to use street drugs, take away the naloxone kits, and - voila! - problem solved....

I sometimes think that might be more humane than the endless fentanyl-naloxone treadmill with no hope of getting better.

[VicHockeyFan]

So the give nment is going to distribute 1900 kits via 220 pharmacies. Is that enough?

[Midnightly]

So the give nment is going to distribute 1900 kits via 220 pharmacies. Is that enough?

 

at the rate it's going.. it will never be enough!

[Bingo]

^Or let them continue to use street drugs, take away the naloxone kits, and - voila! - problem solved.

 

As a bonus the housing "crisis" would be lessened.

 

And the paramedics and ambulances would be available for real emergencies.