Free Cocaine, heroine, meth, mdma, etc are being handed out in Vancouver?

[TheChampion]

What's your guys thoughts on this? There now giving away free drugs?


We also have free prefilled heroine in syringes and free opium vending machines in Vancouver bc. Here's a video on that and it's program outlook.

Opioid vending machine vancouver

 

[TerrR]

Seems like a slippery slope to me.

 

[Mr. J]

I don't even want to imagine that happening out in Manitoba. Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[5knuckleshuffle]

I wouldn't mind some free beer every week 😋

 

[apl16]

I wouldn't mind some free beer every week 😋

If I had my way prostitution would completely legal and upfront, regulated medically and a free monthly chit to see a reputable provider for every adult.

 

[poopquiz]

I think this is brilliant. Provide the people who need it with free clean drugs. Keep them out of ERs, keep them from committing petty crimes to get money for drugs. Net/net this HAS to be more cost effective vs paying for stupid ass police and first responders calls and hospital visits, not to mention all the lives that will be saved.

 

[divorceddad]

We have seen over 1800 deaths in BC in 2021 due to toxic drug supply, worst year ever. Plus, you have the issues of the crimes being committed to buy those drugs. A safe, clean, free supply is one step to breaking those cycles.

 

[joe_c5]

I've heard that Holland has tried a simular program to cut down on harmful affects of drugs, drug related crimes, etc. Apperently, it was supposed to have been quite successful. Has anyone else heard this? Giving them the drugs for free only makes sense with the points made in the 2 previous replies.. Also, the police, courts, first responders, ERs, would run more eficiently. And it saves lives. They are all somebody's kid. The state of affairs as it is is not working.

 

[Chessmen]

I've heard that Holland has tried a simular program to cut down on harmful affects of drugs, drug related crimes, etc. Apperently, it was supposed to have been quite successful. Has anyone else heard this? Giving them the drugs for free only makes sense with the points made in the 2 previous replies.. Also, the police, courts, first responders, ERs, would run more eficiently. The state of affairs as it is isn't working.

Wouldn't they quickly run out of free drugs? Also, MDMA, ecstacy, isn't listed under the free drugs on the title

 

[rlock]

We have seen over 1800 deaths in BC in 2021 due to toxic drug supply, worst year ever. Plus, you have the issues of the crimes being committed to buy those drugs. A safe, clean, free supply is one step to breaking those cycles.

Officials these days act as if drugs just fall out of the sky like rain, and everyone's just magically blameless for this crisis.

Nobody - well, nobody politically fashionable - blames the dealers anymore, gangsters who seem to have no problem killing those thousands of people just so they can fatten their wallets. Truth is, they know exactly what they are doing, they just don't give a fuck. Murder is still fucking murder, only now it goes unpunished.

None of this enlightened thinking will actually stop these substances being addictive, these people will still be slaves basically for their whole lives. Society's given up trying to get them clean, or do anything to stop the people who sucked the life right out of them. The people who ruined them will just move on to make new "customers" out the next generation of kids (when the psychiatrists and counsellors are done grooming them). The rest of the elite - lawyers, real estate developers, money managers - will just go on making blood money and crime the basis of the economy. Only honest people get punished these days.

A small elite that feeds the masses into the great addiction machine, turning them from autonomous citizens into brain-damaged slaves, while the media cheers it on as if we all have no choice but to accept it.

That's progress, huh?

... But don't you dare fuck each other consentually, that will remain a crime.

 

[Big_Guy_Rye]

Vice News.....yeah, figure they'd back something so asinine.....

Not the first time I've heard this idea, and it sounds fucking stupid each time I hear about it.

Last I checked, drugs can still kill you, except anything laced with fentanyl will just kill you quicker. And in another plot-twist, getting the 'good stuff' to ween you off the 'bad stuff'; how does that work? Fentanyl gives you a better high, even though it's deadlier. And yet, addicts are willing to go with the lesser high on the clean stuff? Such a downgrade would surely mean they'd start frequenting their doses, thinking they'll keep the same high as before on the 'bad stuff'.....in short, they're still going to overdose...

And even if a clean supply can slow the death rate down long enough for some addicts to start making proper lifechoices. Are they going to sober up anytime after that? Or we breeding a new type of 'welfare moocher' living off what the government gives them? As I'm sure there are addicts who do want to turn their life around, but that doesn't speak for everyone else in the drug culture who relish in their addictions. They'd be thrilled that they get all the free drugs off the taxpayer's dime.

....and that is what all this sounds like. Another silly social media campaign to trick the government into validate their habit with no inclination of getting better.

 

[westwoody]

Volunteer at the site before passing judgement. Harm reduction works.

 

[LLLurkJ2]

Officials these days act as if drugs just fall out of the sky like rain, and everyone's just magically blameless for this crisis.

Nobody - well, nobody politically fashionable - blames the dealers anymore, gangsters who seem to have no problem killing those thousands of people just so they can fatten their wallets. Truth is, they know exactly what they are doing, they just don't give a fuck. Murder is still fucking murder, only now it goes unpunished.


A small elite that feeds the masses into the great addiction machine, turning them from autonomous citizens into brain-damaged slaves, while the media cheers it on as if we all have no choice but to accept it.

That's progress, huh?

... But don't you dare fuck each other consentually, that will remain a crime.

Wait till you read about coal pollution...

 

[sexpanther69]

And I'm assuming we'll be footing that bill for those 'free drugs' as well.... Ppl have a choice, they chose to do drugs but not get the help to get off em

Buut sure handing out free drugs will make the addiction problem go away

 

[ExpCharlee]

And I'm assuming we'll be footing that bill for those 'free drugs' as well.... Ppl have a choice, they chose to do drugs but not get the help to get off em

Buut sure handing out free drugs will make the addiction problem go away

as if it'll be more expensive than the hospital bills from people OD'ing from fent. We will save money this way, guaranteed--but that shouldn't be what you're thinking about anyway. We're going to SAVE LIVES with this.

 

[masterpoonhunter]

This is a really good thought provoking thread. I mean taking on a societal problem with all its related issues such as drug addiction could be volumes of discussion.

My take if anyone cares to hear it, is that all of this started with the original war on drugs to eliminate hemp as a competitor to cotton. The money was too great for those in power to give up. From that point on you have government sponsored programs all over the world trying to control in general 'drugs'. Big pharma though, ultimately the real issue with current opioids, carry a lobby greater than cotton ever was.

To the point of Holland having a successful social program, I think Portugal has been held up as the world model to fix their drug and crime and cost related issues. Putting a $ cost on everything related to those 1800 drug related deaths should be something that is front and center in the public eye. Putting a human cost to the same? I don't know how to do that but behind every one of those deaths is a person with a story.

As I stated, volumes could be written on this thread.

 

[TheChampion]

I added a updated video on free prefilled heroine syringe clinics and the outlook of it. In the thread body.

Opioid vending machine vancouver

 

[Newb808]

A clean and free substance supply (everything) being cheaper than hospital bills is just scratching the surface. Property crime costs everyone whether your bike disappears one day without compensation or your insurance deductible and premiums on your $200k car increase after somebody smashes a window out for change, one night. This applies to retailers and organizations as well—even if you’ve never been a victim of theft, the prices you pay for goods and services are affected.
Investigating, prosecuting and incarcerating criminals associated with the war on drugs is extremely costly. I’m not just talking about spending $100k to prosecute, defend (we pay for that part too) and release a prolific shoppers drug mart shoplifter repeatedly, but untold millions are spent on the bigger fish, especially drug and gang related murders. Beyond our borders, where the worst violence takes place, is another topic.
I don’t suggest all petty and organized crime related to drugs would just stop if people could get the substances they desired without having to pay steep prices, but it would be a start. Some users would still be greedy and steal and many gangsters would find other ways to exploit society. Many users of substances though would be able to have a more dignified life without having to beg, borrow, steal or squander their hard earned livelihoods. And isn’t this the main reason that substance use is stigmatized? People know that individuals who compulsively use costly substances will resort to the above mentioned behaviours in addition to becoming selfish and dishonest to protect the addiction itself. Again not saying free stuff would remedy all the stigma and undo the harm that leads people to abuse substances, but it could offer many dignity and peace allowing them to cultivate self worth. One day, maybe they might have a spiritual shift and try to get clean. Not everyone is ready to get clean today, but many who take more than a few attempts at sobriety eventually succeed and live exemplary lives. Those people and nobody for that matter need to live the way most addicts of minimal and modest means do.
I could go on, and on.

 

[Big_Guy_Rye]

Volunteer at the site before passing judgement. Harm reduction works.

No, it doesn't.

Harm Reduction practices have been around for a while, and population of addicts and overdose deaths are still increasing. As well as risks to the general public that isn't involved with drug culture. You might pull out a few success stories citing these harm reduction policies, but the addict population is still increasing, as well as the overdoses. It might work if 'everyone' is on the same page, but not everyone is on the same page. But you can't force them all into the same page, because then they start crying about their freedom.....so basically 'harm reduction' is only about enabling and granting latitude to inherent criminal behaviour, on the off-chance they'll clean themselves up; meanwhile society at large is held hostage by their own "compassion and sympathy".

And since "liberals" know that too, their next step is to re-write the word "criminal" by decriminalizing a certain amount of drugs, while advocating lesser punishments on situations that involve gun violence. So if you're a gun-toting, gangster-wannabe, with bad drug habit, you're basically getting a free pass at this point, because the suspect is sliming his way through various "harm reduction" policies that gave this person free range to do whatever they want..... add free clean government approved supply, and what do we get?....

 

[g eazy]

No, it doesn't.

Harm Reduction practices have been around for a while, and population of addicts and overdose deaths are still increasing. As well as risks to the general public that isn't involved with drug culture. You might pull out a few success stories citing these harm reduction policies, but the addict population is still increasing, as well as the overdoses. It might work if 'everyone' is on the same page, but not everyone is on the same page. But you can't force them all into the same page, because then they start crying about their freedom.....so basically 'harm reduction' is only about enabling and granting latitude to inherent criminal behaviour, on the off-chance they'll clean themselves up; meanwhile society at large is held hostage by their own "compassion and sympathy".

And since "liberals" know that too, their next step is to re-write the word "criminal" by decriminalizing a certain amount of drugs, while advocating lesser punishments on situations that involve gun violence. So if you're a gun-toting, gangster-wannabe, with bad drug habit, you're basically getting a free pass at this point, because the suspect is sliming his way through various "harm reduction" policies that gave this person free range to do whatever they want..... add free clean government approved supply, and what do we get?....

Not saying harm reduction works or not, but nothing in this post is substantially refuting the efficacy of harm reduction.

It's incredibly difficult to measure the effectiveness of something like harm reduction because natural experiments are not easy to produce (i.e. real life scenarios). Saying 'addict population and overdoses are increasing' is an extreme simplification of the issue on hand - you're not speaking to the many externalities that can affect this number (e.g. economy, health/drug/policing policies, warmer Vancouver climate, growing population, etc.). Taken to the extreme, if you just execute every addict and person that overdoses, wouldn't that solve your issue of 'addict population and overdoses are increasing'? No... because the issue isn't as simple as that and dumbing it down for the sake of argument is counterintuitive to the discussion.

At the core of the issue, the community needs to be on the same page with regards to WHAT is the problem they're trying to prioritize - and spoiler alert, it can't be everything.