Vancouver's Downtown Eastside venue owners, promoters report losses amid increased crime and violence
Vancouver Courier, By John Kurucz - Sept. 26, 201
Mo Tarmohamed is out to the tune of roughly $60,000, if not more.
It’s not on account of a guys’ trip to Las Vegas, home renovations or a vehicle purchase.
It’s the price he pays to own a business in the Downtown Eastside.
Tarmohamed bought the Rickshaw Theatre in 2011, knowing full well its location just steps east of Main and Hastings could be bad for business.
He had little idea at the time that the area would deteriorate to the point it now has.....click "Read More" below to continue....
10/25/19
11/12/18
What I saw in a day on the Downtown Eastside shocked me
How have we let things go so wrong for Canada’s roughest neighbourhood?
By Marcus Gee, Globe and Mail, Nov. 10, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/yafeyeqb
By Marcus Gee, Globe and Mail, Nov. 10, 2018
https://tinyurl.com/yafeyeqb
3/10/18
Does naloxone really save lives?
MARGARET WENTE, The Globe and Mail, 10 Mar 2018
The life-saving drug may actually increase opioid abuse. Here’s why
My friendly local pharmacy has started selling naloxone kits to the general public. They think everyone should have one. The idea is that you never know when you’re going to have someone overdose in your home.
As the opioid crisis spreads like a curse across North America, naloxone – a lifesaving drug that neutralizes the effects of an opioid overdose – is not confined to first responders anymore. Schools in Toronto are stocking up in it. Librarians across the United States have been trained to administer it to overdosing visitors. Everywhere, the message is: make sure you have some on hand, just in case.
So what is the effect of naloxone on reducing drug-related deaths? Jennifer Doleac decided to find out. As an economist at the University of Virginia, she studies the consequences (and the unintended consequences) of public policy. She and her fellow researcher, Anita Mukherjee at the University of Wisconsin, thought that the widespread rollout of naloxone across the U.S. provided a natural experiment in drug policy and moral hazard.
The concept of moral hazard is simple. If you reduce the risk of any given behaviour, then people might do more of it. The classic example was the introduction of seat belts in cars. It turned out that seat belts saved lives – but not as many as you might think, because they also encouraged some people to drive faster and more carelessly.
Most of us are rational actors – even drug addicts. As drug users realize they’re far less likely to die from an overdose, some start using more powerful drugs, in higher doses. Some switch to fentanyl (which is far deadlier than heroin). Some “use” more often. “You wouldn’t think that people caught in the depths of addiction would respond to incentives,” Prof. Doleac says. “But they do.”
There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence for what’s happened since naloxone became common. In their paper, the professors cite media reports that describe naloxone parties, where people use heroin and prescription painkillers knowing that they have easy access to naloxone in case they overdose. First responders say they’re fed up with saving the same people over and over again. Recently The New York Times chronicled the depressing story of Patrick Griffin, a long-time addict with a heroin and fentanyl habit, who once managed to overdose no fewer than four times in six hours. Each time, emergency medical workers revived him. Despite his family’s pleading and his frequent near-death experiences, Mr. Griffin stubbornly refuses to go into treatment. One town councillor in Ohio got so annoyed with repeat offenders that he proposed cutting them off after the first two overdoses.
Naloxone has caused a variety of other unintended consequences, the researchers say. Drug-related theft is up. So are emergencyroom visits. There’s even evidence that in one region of the U.S. – the Midwest – naloxone use actually increased overall drug mortality.
Prof. Doleac expected that their results would be controversial. What she did not expect was the enraged reaction from people in the public-health world. The moment their paper was published this week, the twittersphere exploded. She was deluged with abuse, even death threats.
“The public-health community should acknowledge the behavioural effects we find here,” she says. “But they really don’t like the idea that there might be trade-offs.” Why the resistance? As fierce advocates for more harm-reduction strategies, such as access to naloxone, they’re afraid that admitting to any potential downside would weaken their arguments for more resources and strengthen the resistance against them.
Economists have seen this all before. After the development of treatments that turned HIV from a death sentence into a manageable condition, risky sexual behaviour among gay men exploded. One study, cited by the researchers, found that treating HIV-positive men more than doubled their number of sexual partners, and led to a sharp increase in HIV incidence. Then as now, publichealth activists didn’t want to deal with the evidence.
To be clear, nobody – certainly not Prof. Doleac – thinks we should withhold lifesaving treatment from drug users. But we shouldn’t ignore the evidence either. Naloxone is no magic bullet. The overwhelming lesson of the opioid crisis is how intractable it is. There are no quick wins and no easy fixes. Another example: when the formulation of OxyContin was changed to make it more tamper-resistant, opioid-related deaths did not decline, as expected. People just switched to heroin.
“We need to experiment with a variety of approaches,” Prof. Doleac concludes. “And we should be humble.”
The life-saving drug may actually increase opioid abuse. Here’s why
My friendly local pharmacy has started selling naloxone kits to the general public. They think everyone should have one. The idea is that you never know when you’re going to have someone overdose in your home.
As the opioid crisis spreads like a curse across North America, naloxone – a lifesaving drug that neutralizes the effects of an opioid overdose – is not confined to first responders anymore. Schools in Toronto are stocking up in it. Librarians across the United States have been trained to administer it to overdosing visitors. Everywhere, the message is: make sure you have some on hand, just in case.
So what is the effect of naloxone on reducing drug-related deaths? Jennifer Doleac decided to find out. As an economist at the University of Virginia, she studies the consequences (and the unintended consequences) of public policy. She and her fellow researcher, Anita Mukherjee at the University of Wisconsin, thought that the widespread rollout of naloxone across the U.S. provided a natural experiment in drug policy and moral hazard.
The concept of moral hazard is simple. If you reduce the risk of any given behaviour, then people might do more of it. The classic example was the introduction of seat belts in cars. It turned out that seat belts saved lives – but not as many as you might think, because they also encouraged some people to drive faster and more carelessly.
Most of us are rational actors – even drug addicts. As drug users realize they’re far less likely to die from an overdose, some start using more powerful drugs, in higher doses. Some switch to fentanyl (which is far deadlier than heroin). Some “use” more often. “You wouldn’t think that people caught in the depths of addiction would respond to incentives,” Prof. Doleac says. “But they do.”
There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence for what’s happened since naloxone became common. In their paper, the professors cite media reports that describe naloxone parties, where people use heroin and prescription painkillers knowing that they have easy access to naloxone in case they overdose. First responders say they’re fed up with saving the same people over and over again. Recently The New York Times chronicled the depressing story of Patrick Griffin, a long-time addict with a heroin and fentanyl habit, who once managed to overdose no fewer than four times in six hours. Each time, emergency medical workers revived him. Despite his family’s pleading and his frequent near-death experiences, Mr. Griffin stubbornly refuses to go into treatment. One town councillor in Ohio got so annoyed with repeat offenders that he proposed cutting them off after the first two overdoses.
Naloxone has caused a variety of other unintended consequences, the researchers say. Drug-related theft is up. So are emergencyroom visits. There’s even evidence that in one region of the U.S. – the Midwest – naloxone use actually increased overall drug mortality.
Prof. Doleac expected that their results would be controversial. What she did not expect was the enraged reaction from people in the public-health world. The moment their paper was published this week, the twittersphere exploded. She was deluged with abuse, even death threats.
“The public-health community should acknowledge the behavioural effects we find here,” she says. “But they really don’t like the idea that there might be trade-offs.” Why the resistance? As fierce advocates for more harm-reduction strategies, such as access to naloxone, they’re afraid that admitting to any potential downside would weaken their arguments for more resources and strengthen the resistance against them.
Economists have seen this all before. After the development of treatments that turned HIV from a death sentence into a manageable condition, risky sexual behaviour among gay men exploded. One study, cited by the researchers, found that treating HIV-positive men more than doubled their number of sexual partners, and led to a sharp increase in HIV incidence. Then as now, publichealth activists didn’t want to deal with the evidence.
To be clear, nobody – certainly not Prof. Doleac – thinks we should withhold lifesaving treatment from drug users. But we shouldn’t ignore the evidence either. Naloxone is no magic bullet. The overwhelming lesson of the opioid crisis is how intractable it is. There are no quick wins and no easy fixes. Another example: when the formulation of OxyContin was changed to make it more tamper-resistant, opioid-related deaths did not decline, as expected. People just switched to heroin.
“We need to experiment with a variety of approaches,” Prof. Doleac concludes. “And we should be humble.”
4/20/16
Drugheads' paradise
The letter below appeared in the Letter section of The Province newspaper on 4/20/2016....
‘Zombie apocalypse’ is here
"We are living through the zombie apocalypse with Vancouver’s drug problems.
We ignored the warnings when cocaine flooded into Vancouver during Expo 86 and when heroin was reintroduced in quantity after the handover of Hong Kong to China and the Triads moved in here.
We did try to prevent the spread of disease through the use of dirty needles, but did little to get people off drugs and into a productive life because it was too expensive.
The medical community is now increasingly saying there is really no point in trying to detox, treat and rehabilitate hard-drug users. The so-called Four Pillar approach fell over because we never committed to getting people off drugs and training them to live productive lives.
Street gangs fight openly over supplying drug users and bring in stronger and stronger drugs. A huge population of drug zombies now live in ghettos on the fringes of our cities. It is the zombie apocalypse of those B movies. Get used to it. " -- Gregory Middleton, Victoria
‘Zombie apocalypse’ is here
"We are living through the zombie apocalypse with Vancouver’s drug problems.
We ignored the warnings when cocaine flooded into Vancouver during Expo 86 and when heroin was reintroduced in quantity after the handover of Hong Kong to China and the Triads moved in here.
We did try to prevent the spread of disease through the use of dirty needles, but did little to get people off drugs and into a productive life because it was too expensive.
The medical community is now increasingly saying there is really no point in trying to detox, treat and rehabilitate hard-drug users. The so-called Four Pillar approach fell over because we never committed to getting people off drugs and training them to live productive lives.
Street gangs fight openly over supplying drug users and bring in stronger and stronger drugs. A huge population of drug zombies now live in ghettos on the fringes of our cities. It is the zombie apocalypse of those B movies. Get used to it. " -- Gregory Middleton, Victoria
11/22/14
Powerful, untouchable poverty and drug-addiction industry in Vancouver
Vancouver’s ‘gulag’: Canada’s poorest neighbourhood refuses to get better despite $1M a day in social spending
Tristin Hopper | November 14, 2014
VANCOUVER – In a campaign that has otherwise been pretty scant on details, mayoral challenger Kirk LaPointe rolled out at least one policy point that got some attention: If elected, the former journalist would initiate a crackdown on the drug dealers of the Downtown Eastside.
“The people that bother me the most are the predators down here, the people that are taking the few dollars that the residents have from them,” he said in an interview with Gastown Gazette, a vocal advocate against what it has called the neighbourhood’s “revolving door poverty policies.” “Those are the people that I think have to be rerouted out of the system.”
It’s fertile election terrain. Mayor Gregor Robertson was elected in 2008 with a vow to “end homelessness by 2015.” But it remains fertile electoral terrain – because after years of pumping the area with social housing units, not only has the homeless count actually gone up, but the new roofs seemed to have little effect on the area’s epidemic of drug use and on-street chaos.
It is among Canada’s greatest puzzles: Why has one of the country’s richest, most beautiful cities abandoned its historic centre to scenes of abject misery—even as it absorbs $1 million a day in social spending?.....click "Read More" below to continue.....
Tristin Hopper | November 14, 2014
VANCOUVER – In a campaign that has otherwise been pretty scant on details, mayoral challenger Kirk LaPointe rolled out at least one policy point that got some attention: If elected, the former journalist would initiate a crackdown on the drug dealers of the Downtown Eastside.
“The people that bother me the most are the predators down here, the people that are taking the few dollars that the residents have from them,” he said in an interview with Gastown Gazette, a vocal advocate against what it has called the neighbourhood’s “revolving door poverty policies.” “Those are the people that I think have to be rerouted out of the system.”
It’s fertile election terrain. Mayor Gregor Robertson was elected in 2008 with a vow to “end homelessness by 2015.” But it remains fertile electoral terrain – because after years of pumping the area with social housing units, not only has the homeless count actually gone up, but the new roofs seemed to have little effect on the area’s epidemic of drug use and on-street chaos.
It is among Canada’s greatest puzzles: Why has one of the country’s richest, most beautiful cities abandoned its historic centre to scenes of abject misery—even as it absorbs $1 million a day in social spending?.....click "Read More" below to continue.....
7/2/14
The right to be drug addicts permanently and paid for
Money wasted on Vancouver's DTES
By Leo Knight, Law and Order, 24 hours Vancouver, July 1, 2014
The hand-wringing continues unabated in the Downtown Eastside. The weekend’s Vancouver Sun detailed a laundry list of 260 agencies that provide some form of “service” to the roughly 6,500 residents in need in what we used to call the “Skids.”
Those 260 agencies collectively spend an estimated million dollars a day in a neighbourhood that plays host to the world’s largest open-air drug bazaar. The DTES also contains North America’s first supervised injection site, where heroin addicts can use to their heart’s content, safe in the knowledge that if they overdo it, a health-care professional paid for by the taxpayer will ensure they are brought back to life and live to stick a needle in a vein another day.
Broken down, that’s a little over $48,000 per year per resident impacted. And that’s before you factor in the money given to them in welfare, housing, the cost of medical care, plus the policing or corrections costs that are all inevitably involved.
Instead, we have a small circle of hand-wringers and poverty pimps trying to convince the rest of us (who actually pay the bills) that salvation is at hand. It isn’t. The vast majority of these folks cannot be fixed, whether it is their addiction issues that caused their mental health issues or vice versa. It’s all related. Let’s at least admit it.
Thirty years ago, junkies didn’t use in the open on the streets or in an alley. They would get arrested. The open-air drug bazaar in the East Hastings area that has been prevalent for the past 15 or 20 years didn’t exist when the Vancouver Police Department had control of the streets.
And there’s the rub. VPD gave up control of the streets when they started hosting community barbecues at Main and Hastings, and calling junkies and dealers “clients.”
Then came the likes of the group Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, who trotted out the nonsense that drug users were somehow a part of mainstream society. In fact, I was stunned to learn in the Vancouver Sun that Vancouver Coastal Health was, in part, funding VANDU. While it’s true that VCH has to deal with the ramifications of drug use, it should not be funding the enablers who are foisting their ridiculous views on those of us who actually pay the freight for this bafflegab.
The story is not about how much all of this is costing, it should be about how do we stop the nonsense.
And all of this for 6,500 folks. For the record, Riverview used to be home to about 5,000 patients. But that was before we became enlightened.
Leo Knight is a former police officer, security expert and host of primetimecrime.com
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2014/07/01/money-wasted-on-vancouvers-dtes
By Leo Knight, Law and Order, 24 hours Vancouver, July 1, 2014
The hand-wringing continues unabated in the Downtown Eastside. The weekend’s Vancouver Sun detailed a laundry list of 260 agencies that provide some form of “service” to the roughly 6,500 residents in need in what we used to call the “Skids.”
Those 260 agencies collectively spend an estimated million dollars a day in a neighbourhood that plays host to the world’s largest open-air drug bazaar. The DTES also contains North America’s first supervised injection site, where heroin addicts can use to their heart’s content, safe in the knowledge that if they overdo it, a health-care professional paid for by the taxpayer will ensure they are brought back to life and live to stick a needle in a vein another day.
Broken down, that’s a little over $48,000 per year per resident impacted. And that’s before you factor in the money given to them in welfare, housing, the cost of medical care, plus the policing or corrections costs that are all inevitably involved.
Instead, we have a small circle of hand-wringers and poverty pimps trying to convince the rest of us (who actually pay the bills) that salvation is at hand. It isn’t. The vast majority of these folks cannot be fixed, whether it is their addiction issues that caused their mental health issues or vice versa. It’s all related. Let’s at least admit it.
Thirty years ago, junkies didn’t use in the open on the streets or in an alley. They would get arrested. The open-air drug bazaar in the East Hastings area that has been prevalent for the past 15 or 20 years didn’t exist when the Vancouver Police Department had control of the streets.
And there’s the rub. VPD gave up control of the streets when they started hosting community barbecues at Main and Hastings, and calling junkies and dealers “clients.”
Then came the likes of the group Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, who trotted out the nonsense that drug users were somehow a part of mainstream society. In fact, I was stunned to learn in the Vancouver Sun that Vancouver Coastal Health was, in part, funding VANDU. While it’s true that VCH has to deal with the ramifications of drug use, it should not be funding the enablers who are foisting their ridiculous views on those of us who actually pay the freight for this bafflegab.
The story is not about how much all of this is costing, it should be about how do we stop the nonsense.
And all of this for 6,500 folks. For the record, Riverview used to be home to about 5,000 patients. But that was before we became enlightened.
Leo Knight is a former police officer, security expert and host of primetimecrime.com
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/2014/07/01/money-wasted-on-vancouvers-dtes
5/3/14
An entrenched poverty industry
Shelley Fralic: Redevelopment won’t solve Downtown Eastside’s problems
The same moral and legal standards should apply there as anywhere else
By Shelley Fralic, Vancouver Sun columnist March 3, 2014
You can bandy about all the earnest statistics and well-meaning initiatives and heavily funded social engineering experiments you want.
You can wring your hands and tug your forelock and lie awake at night desperately seeking solutions for the crushing poverty and rampant criminality, for the open-air drug market and the mentally ill street wanderers.
You can build more low-income housing and actively campaign for grassroots help, from the experts and the non-profits, from the government and the rich, and even from the middle class that pays the bills to make the city livable for everyone.
But it still boils down to this: If you want to turn the Downtown Eastside — relentlessly branded as Canada’s poorest postal code, a notorious cesspool of enabled addicts, revolving-door criminals, sanctioned poverty and supervised narcotic consumption — into a place where families want to live, where it is safe to walk the streets and where felons and drug addicts are treated, well, like felons and drug addicts, then you need to face facts. ....click "Read More" below to continue...
The same moral and legal standards should apply there as anywhere else
By Shelley Fralic, Vancouver Sun columnist March 3, 2014
You can bandy about all the earnest statistics and well-meaning initiatives and heavily funded social engineering experiments you want.
You can wring your hands and tug your forelock and lie awake at night desperately seeking solutions for the crushing poverty and rampant criminality, for the open-air drug market and the mentally ill street wanderers.
You can build more low-income housing and actively campaign for grassroots help, from the experts and the non-profits, from the government and the rich, and even from the middle class that pays the bills to make the city livable for everyone.
But it still boils down to this: If you want to turn the Downtown Eastside — relentlessly branded as Canada’s poorest postal code, a notorious cesspool of enabled addicts, revolving-door criminals, sanctioned poverty and supervised narcotic consumption — into a place where families want to live, where it is safe to walk the streets and where felons and drug addicts are treated, well, like felons and drug addicts, then you need to face facts. ....click "Read More" below to continue...
7/20/13
Little evidence "harm reduction" reduces harm
By David Berner, Vancouver Sun, July 19, 2013
A report by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS on harm reduction programs and Insite released last month is not science; it's public relations.
Authors Drs. Julio Montaner, Thomas Kerr and Evan Wood have produced nearly two dozen papers on the use of Insite. They boast of good results in connecting addicts to treatment but convincing evidence is lacking.
The current campaign reports significant reductions in drug overdoses, yet the Government of British Columbia Selected Vital Statistics and Health Status Indicators show that the number of deaths from drug overdose in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has increased each year (with one exception) since the site opened in 2003. In addition, the federal government's Advisory Committee on Drug Injection Sites report only five per cent of drug addicts use the injection site, three per cent were referred for treatment and there was no indication the crime rate has decreased, as well as no indication of a decrease in AIDS and hepatitis C since the injection site was opened.....click "Read More" below to continue....
A report by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS on harm reduction programs and Insite released last month is not science; it's public relations.
Authors Drs. Julio Montaner, Thomas Kerr and Evan Wood have produced nearly two dozen papers on the use of Insite. They boast of good results in connecting addicts to treatment but convincing evidence is lacking.
The current campaign reports significant reductions in drug overdoses, yet the Government of British Columbia Selected Vital Statistics and Health Status Indicators show that the number of deaths from drug overdose in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside has increased each year (with one exception) since the site opened in 2003. In addition, the federal government's Advisory Committee on Drug Injection Sites report only five per cent of drug addicts use the injection site, three per cent were referred for treatment and there was no indication the crime rate has decreased, as well as no indication of a decrease in AIDS and hepatitis C since the injection site was opened.....click "Read More" below to continue....
6/24/13
Parents can help kids stay away from drugs
Published: June 24, 2013
Drs. Oz & Roizen's Tip of the Day:
The list of movies aimed at kids that show (supposedly) loveable stars who use drugs is long and well-known: There's "Cheech and Chong," "Harold & Kumar" and the entire "Hangover" series.
Helping teens stay away from recreational drugs is a big job and one that, unfortunately, some parents don't feel they're up to or don't feel they have the clout to make a difference.
That's info from a new survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration after talking with more than 67,000 Americans over the age of 12.
The upshot: 22 percent of parents don't think what they say about drug use will change how their children act.
But research shows that nothing could be further from the truth. Among kids who feel their parents strongly disapprove of marijuana use, only 5 percent are willing to risk it; but more than 30 percent of kids whose parents don't make their anti-drug message clear are willing to experiment with pot.
Mom and Dad, you are the health guides in all areas - from drugs to doughnuts to sleep.
When you don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk (we love families who get walking together, aiming for 10,000 steps a day), you are amazingly influential.
So gather your kids around (even those teenagers), plan a family meal, schedule regular family walks and set aside time for conversations about the importance of a healthful lifestyle for better grades, higher self-esteem and a brighter future.
Mehmet Oz, M.D., is host of "The Dr. Oz Show," and Mike Roizen, M.D., is chief medical officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. To live your healthiest, visit sharecare.com. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/06/24/2629040/parents-can-help-kids-stay-away.html#storylink=cpy
Drs. Oz & Roizen's Tip of the Day:
The list of movies aimed at kids that show (supposedly) loveable stars who use drugs is long and well-known: There's "Cheech and Chong," "Harold & Kumar" and the entire "Hangover" series.
Helping teens stay away from recreational drugs is a big job and one that, unfortunately, some parents don't feel they're up to or don't feel they have the clout to make a difference.
That's info from a new survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration after talking with more than 67,000 Americans over the age of 12.
The upshot: 22 percent of parents don't think what they say about drug use will change how their children act.
But research shows that nothing could be further from the truth. Among kids who feel their parents strongly disapprove of marijuana use, only 5 percent are willing to risk it; but more than 30 percent of kids whose parents don't make their anti-drug message clear are willing to experiment with pot.
Mom and Dad, you are the health guides in all areas - from drugs to doughnuts to sleep.
When you don't just talk the talk, but walk the walk (we love families who get walking together, aiming for 10,000 steps a day), you are amazingly influential.
So gather your kids around (even those teenagers), plan a family meal, schedule regular family walks and set aside time for conversations about the importance of a healthful lifestyle for better grades, higher self-esteem and a brighter future.
Mehmet Oz, M.D., is host of "The Dr. Oz Show," and Mike Roizen, M.D., is chief medical officer at the Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. To live your healthiest, visit sharecare.com. Distributed by King Features Syndicate.
http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/06/24/2629040/parents-can-help-kids-stay-away.html#storylink=cpy
5/24/13
Amanda Bynes whacked on pot
Amanda Bynes taken away in handcuffs wearing bizarre wig after 'throwing bong out window of high rise apartment during marijuana arrest'
By Daily Mail Reporter, 24 May 2013
Amanda Bynes was taken away by police in handcuffs after being arrested for reckless endangerment after allegedly throwing a foot-long bong out of the window of her 36th floor New York apartment.
The incident came after police arrived to speak to the troubled actress about her alleged marijuana use on Thursday night.
She was then taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation before being booked at the police station for criminal of possession of marijuana, reckless endangerment and tampering with evidence.... click "Read More" below to continue....
By Daily Mail Reporter, 24 May 2013
Amanda Bynes was taken away by police in handcuffs after being arrested for reckless endangerment after allegedly throwing a foot-long bong out of the window of her 36th floor New York apartment.
The incident came after police arrived to speak to the troubled actress about her alleged marijuana use on Thursday night.
She was then taken to a hospital for a psychiatric evaluation before being booked at the police station for criminal of possession of marijuana, reckless endangerment and tampering with evidence.... click "Read More" below to continue....
5/20/13
Vancouverites still shocked at results of city's liberal drug culture
(Below are two letters in the Letter section of the Vancouver Sun)...
Downtown Eastside's sad state bad for tourism
Re: Tourism a growing, valuable B.C. industry, May 8
Evan Loveless of the Wilderness Tourism Association of B.C. writes eloquently about the growth of tourism in B.C. and how it was recently overlooked as one of the key economic sectors. He also highlighted issues that need to be addressed by the next government of B.C. such as land rights, tenure access and security, planning, transportation and marketing. But there is one issue that challenges our tourism future that was not mentioned: the condition of the Downtown Eastside.
I returned last week from a two-week European vacation. On my second day in the Netherlands, I turned on the CNN International News channel and was stunned to see they had a feature on Vancouver.
After 20 seconds or so depicting the beauty of B.C. and its people, they got to the core of their story: The Downtown Eastside and its drug culture and homelessness.
Needless to say, my excitement at being featured on such a prominent newscast quickly turned to disappointment and sadness.... click "Read More" below to continue....
Downtown Eastside's sad state bad for tourism
Re: Tourism a growing, valuable B.C. industry, May 8
Evan Loveless of the Wilderness Tourism Association of B.C. writes eloquently about the growth of tourism in B.C. and how it was recently overlooked as one of the key economic sectors. He also highlighted issues that need to be addressed by the next government of B.C. such as land rights, tenure access and security, planning, transportation and marketing. But there is one issue that challenges our tourism future that was not mentioned: the condition of the Downtown Eastside.
I returned last week from a two-week European vacation. On my second day in the Netherlands, I turned on the CNN International News channel and was stunned to see they had a feature on Vancouver.
After 20 seconds or so depicting the beauty of B.C. and its people, they got to the core of their story: The Downtown Eastside and its drug culture and homelessness.
Needless to say, my excitement at being featured on such a prominent newscast quickly turned to disappointment and sadness.... click "Read More" below to continue....
3/24/13
Vancouver's drug addiction industry
Harm reduction just keeps addicts enslaved
By Jon Ferry, The Province, March 13, 2013
The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs is meeting in Vienna this week to recommend measures to combat the world drug problem.
But in Vancouver, the war against illegal drugs appears to have been won already by those who favour "harm reduction," with its publicly funded crackpipe kits, safe-injection rooms and "free" heroin and methadone fixes.
This does little more than apply a Band-Aid — as opposed to abstinence-based treatment, which actually gets people off drugs but is frowned upon by the politically correct powers-that-be.
No, the current mantra among grant-hungry activists, medical researchers and politicians is to feed the need, not starve it — which is why as many addicts as ever roam Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
However, I think abstinence may well be making a comeback. And I'm heartened to see two celebs, one local and one international, giving it a new cachet.....click "Read More" below...
By Jon Ferry, The Province, March 13, 2013
The UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs is meeting in Vienna this week to recommend measures to combat the world drug problem.
But in Vancouver, the war against illegal drugs appears to have been won already by those who favour "harm reduction," with its publicly funded crackpipe kits, safe-injection rooms and "free" heroin and methadone fixes.
This does little more than apply a Band-Aid — as opposed to abstinence-based treatment, which actually gets people off drugs but is frowned upon by the politically correct powers-that-be.
No, the current mantra among grant-hungry activists, medical researchers and politicians is to feed the need, not starve it — which is why as many addicts as ever roam Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
However, I think abstinence may well be making a comeback. And I'm heartened to see two celebs, one local and one international, giving it a new cachet.....click "Read More" below...
8/18/12
Vancouver's drug liberalism (de facto legalization) a disaster
'Never been a war on drugs, not even close'
Drugs are still too easy to obtain in Vancouver
By Jon Ferry, The Province, August 17, 2012
Vancouver may be the world's third-most-livable city, according to the latest Economist magazine survey, but it sure has one helluva drug problem.
That's not news to those who've come to know the seedy underbelly of our spaced-out port city. It's been like that for years.
So the finding by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS that buying illegal drugs in downtown Vancouver is as easy as going to the nearest supermarket is no surprise either.
Most younger and older drug users surveyed in the centre's latest, taxpayer-funded study said they could obtain everything from heroin and crack cocaine to crystal meth and pot within minutes — 10 minutes, to be precise.
"Perhaps most concerning is the ready availability of drugs that are injected," noted the researchers, who hail from Vancouver and Boston.
Talk about stating the obvious. The open market for drugs in downtown Vancouver, and the horrific social problems it causes, has been a public concern for years.
The question is what to do about it. And the inference in this study — published in the American Journal on Addictions and based on user responses from 2007 — is that the American-style war on drugs, with its emphasis on drug-law enforcement, has been an abject failure.
Indeed, it's clear the drug policy advocated instead by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS itself is "harm reduction," focusing on everything from safe-injection sites to drug legalization.
This is, in fact, the politically correct approach that's been in vogue in Vancouver's drug-riddled downtown for years — without apparent effect. And study co-author Dr. Evan Wood, a Vancouver physician, is an eloquent champion of it.
"Despite enormous taxpayer investments in enforcing laws aimed at reducing the supply of illegal drugs, Canada's streets remain awash in heroin and cocaine," he stated recently in the National Post.
"Meanwhile, designer drugs such as ecstasy are becoming more readily available to young people than alcohol and tobacco. The war on drugs, like all expensive government programs, should be subject to scrutiny and a value-for-money audit. However, so far, it has been remarkably exempt from accountability."
It could equally well be argued, however, that the main reason why the illegal drug trade continues to flourish in the Lower Mainland like a foul-smelling weed is not because of too much law enforcement, but too little.
The B.C. justice system is notoriously soft on drugs and drug offenders, as at least one sentencing study has shown.
Just ask former Lower Mainland RCMP officer Chuck Doucette, president of the Drug Prevention Network of Canada: "There's never been a war on drugs in Canada, not even close."
It could also be argued that the laissez-faire attitude of our civic leaders toward the government-funded Downtown Eastside drug ghetto has done as least as much to turn troubled/homeless teens into hard-core addicts as have any overzealous police drug crackdowns.
Besides, as former Downtown Eastside beat cop Al Arsenault pointed out Thursday, Vancouver should not be setting drug policy: "Whatever we're doing here is not working."
Maybe Wood and his research team should be studying those cities around the world where it is.
jferry@theprovince.com
http://www.canada.com/health/Never+been+drugs+even+close/7104815/story.html
Drugs are still too easy to obtain in Vancouver
By Jon Ferry, The Province, August 17, 2012
Vancouver may be the world's third-most-livable city, according to the latest Economist magazine survey, but it sure has one helluva drug problem.
That's not news to those who've come to know the seedy underbelly of our spaced-out port city. It's been like that for years.
So the finding by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS that buying illegal drugs in downtown Vancouver is as easy as going to the nearest supermarket is no surprise either.
Most younger and older drug users surveyed in the centre's latest, taxpayer-funded study said they could obtain everything from heroin and crack cocaine to crystal meth and pot within minutes — 10 minutes, to be precise.
"Perhaps most concerning is the ready availability of drugs that are injected," noted the researchers, who hail from Vancouver and Boston.
Talk about stating the obvious. The open market for drugs in downtown Vancouver, and the horrific social problems it causes, has been a public concern for years.
The question is what to do about it. And the inference in this study — published in the American Journal on Addictions and based on user responses from 2007 — is that the American-style war on drugs, with its emphasis on drug-law enforcement, has been an abject failure.
Indeed, it's clear the drug policy advocated instead by the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS itself is "harm reduction," focusing on everything from safe-injection sites to drug legalization.
This is, in fact, the politically correct approach that's been in vogue in Vancouver's drug-riddled downtown for years — without apparent effect. And study co-author Dr. Evan Wood, a Vancouver physician, is an eloquent champion of it.
"Despite enormous taxpayer investments in enforcing laws aimed at reducing the supply of illegal drugs, Canada's streets remain awash in heroin and cocaine," he stated recently in the National Post.
"Meanwhile, designer drugs such as ecstasy are becoming more readily available to young people than alcohol and tobacco. The war on drugs, like all expensive government programs, should be subject to scrutiny and a value-for-money audit. However, so far, it has been remarkably exempt from accountability."
It could equally well be argued, however, that the main reason why the illegal drug trade continues to flourish in the Lower Mainland like a foul-smelling weed is not because of too much law enforcement, but too little.
The B.C. justice system is notoriously soft on drugs and drug offenders, as at least one sentencing study has shown.
Just ask former Lower Mainland RCMP officer Chuck Doucette, president of the Drug Prevention Network of Canada: "There's never been a war on drugs in Canada, not even close."
It could also be argued that the laissez-faire attitude of our civic leaders toward the government-funded Downtown Eastside drug ghetto has done as least as much to turn troubled/homeless teens into hard-core addicts as have any overzealous police drug crackdowns.
Besides, as former Downtown Eastside beat cop Al Arsenault pointed out Thursday, Vancouver should not be setting drug policy: "Whatever we're doing here is not working."
Maybe Wood and his research team should be studying those cities around the world where it is.
jferry@theprovince.com
http://www.canada.com/health/Never+been+drugs+even+close/7104815/story.html
6/28/12
Marijuana worsens mental conditions of people with mental issues
Tests in cannibalism case: Zombie-like attacker used pot, not 'bath salts'
By Michael Martinez, CNN, June 27, 2012
(CNN) -- The naked Florida man who chewed off the face of another man last month in a zombie-like cannibal attack used marijuana but not "bath salts" as police had suspected, authorities said Wednesday.
Rudy Eugene, 31, was killed by a police officer after Eugene's 18-minute attack on a homeless man. His body didn't show "any other street drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs, or any adulterants found in street drugs," according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department.
"The department has also sought the assistance of an outside forensic toxicology reference laboratory, which has confirmed the absence of 'bath salts,' synthetic marijuana and LSD," the statement said.
A video of last month's incident shows Eugene coming across 65-year-old Ronald Poppo on a sidewalk along Miami's MacArthur Causeway, stripping clothes off him and eventually chewing on his face. Police said Poppo lost 75% of his face in the attack.
Armando Aguilar, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told CNN affiliate WPLG last month that he suspected Eugene was under the influence of "bath salts," a drug that contains synthetic stimulants that can "cause chest pains, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, agitation, hallucinations, extreme paranoia and delusions," according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
Eugene's mother said last month that her son was "a nice kid" who could have been subdued with a Taser rather than gunfire.
"He was a good kid. He gave me a nice card on Mother's Day. Everyone says he was a zombie. He was no zombie. That was my son," the mother, who asked that her name not be revealed, told CNN affiliate WFOR.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/27/us/florida-cannibal-attack/index.html
Related news:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/327517
By Michael Martinez, CNN, June 27, 2012
(CNN) -- The naked Florida man who chewed off the face of another man last month in a zombie-like cannibal attack used marijuana but not "bath salts" as police had suspected, authorities said Wednesday.
Rudy Eugene, 31, was killed by a police officer after Eugene's 18-minute attack on a homeless man. His body didn't show "any other street drugs, alcohol or prescription drugs, or any adulterants found in street drugs," according to the Miami-Dade County Medical Examiner Department.
"The department has also sought the assistance of an outside forensic toxicology reference laboratory, which has confirmed the absence of 'bath salts,' synthetic marijuana and LSD," the statement said.
A video of last month's incident shows Eugene coming across 65-year-old Ronald Poppo on a sidewalk along Miami's MacArthur Causeway, stripping clothes off him and eventually chewing on his face. Police said Poppo lost 75% of his face in the attack.
Armando Aguilar, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, told CNN affiliate WPLG last month that he suspected Eugene was under the influence of "bath salts," a drug that contains synthetic stimulants that can "cause chest pains, increased blood pressure, increased heart rate, agitation, hallucinations, extreme paranoia and delusions," according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
Eugene's mother said last month that her son was "a nice kid" who could have been subdued with a Taser rather than gunfire.
"He was a good kid. He gave me a nice card on Mother's Day. Everyone says he was a zombie. He was no zombie. That was my son," the mother, who asked that her name not be revealed, told CNN affiliate WFOR.
http://www.cnn.com/2012/06/27/us/florida-cannibal-attack/index.html
Related news:
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/327517
6/21/12
Against the "harm reduction" ideology
McMartin: Can David Berner reduce harm reduction?
By Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun, June 20, 2012
David Berner is 69, and still swimming upstream. One of these days, the current may turn in his favour.
It hasn’t yet. It won’t soon. But Berner, whose resumé includes actor, talk show host and drug addiction counsellor, has never wavered from his belief:
He is vehemently against the prevailing practice of harm reduction.
Not only does he not see it reducing harm, he believes it encourages and nourishes drug addiction.
“There’s a giant emperor’s new clothes,” Berner said, “and it’s called ‘harm reduction.’ And it not only has political sway these days, it’s pretty well the accepted wisdom of our time. It’s taught in universities, and governments all over the world sing to this tune...
By Pete McMartin, Vancouver Sun, June 20, 2012
David Berner is 69, and still swimming upstream. One of these days, the current may turn in his favour.
It hasn’t yet. It won’t soon. But Berner, whose resumé includes actor, talk show host and drug addiction counsellor, has never wavered from his belief:
He is vehemently against the prevailing practice of harm reduction.
Not only does he not see it reducing harm, he believes it encourages and nourishes drug addiction.
“There’s a giant emperor’s new clothes,” Berner said, “and it’s called ‘harm reduction.’ And it not only has political sway these days, it’s pretty well the accepted wisdom of our time. It’s taught in universities, and governments all over the world sing to this tune...
Columnist is deep on harms of pot---but superficial on pro-legalization
Casual attitude toward pot could be lethal
New study highlights ill-effects of marijuana use
By Jon Ferry, The Province, June 13, 2012
Last month I agreed with Vancouver pot activist Marc Emery that we needed to end drug prohibition in North America, if only because I couldn't imagine legalizing and regulating drugs would create more misery than banning them.
I also said I didn't view pot as harmless as drug crusaders like Emery, currently serving five years in a Mississippi jail on a marijuana rap, would have you believe.
Now, a major new report by the British Lung Foundation, based on a raft of medical studies, supports my view.
It warns that smoking marijuana is not only hazardous to the lungs, it can also cause everything from tuberculosis to Legionnaires' disease. It says there's stronger evidence than ever linking it to lung cancer...
New study highlights ill-effects of marijuana use
By Jon Ferry, The Province, June 13, 2012
Last month I agreed with Vancouver pot activist Marc Emery that we needed to end drug prohibition in North America, if only because I couldn't imagine legalizing and regulating drugs would create more misery than banning them.
I also said I didn't view pot as harmless as drug crusaders like Emery, currently serving five years in a Mississippi jail on a marijuana rap, would have you believe.
Now, a major new report by the British Lung Foundation, based on a raft of medical studies, supports my view.
It warns that smoking marijuana is not only hazardous to the lungs, it can also cause everything from tuberculosis to Legionnaires' disease. It says there's stronger evidence than ever linking it to lung cancer...
2/17/12
Vancouver gov't keeps funding pro-drug group to maintain and encourage drug addictions
Vancouver pro-drug lobby doesn’t deserve taxpayer dollars
VANDU gets $250,000 from province, $20,000 from city hall
By Mark Hasiuk, Vancouver Courier, February 13, 2012
Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
That’s how much Vancouver Coastal Health, your public health authority, gave VANDU, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, last year. This year, according to VCH officials, VANDU will receive another $250,000 from taxpayers, continuing a provincial funding scheme established in 1999.
Most Vancouverites don’t know VANDU. Headquartered in a brick building at 380 East Hastings in the Downtown Eastside, it’s a non-profit hangout conforming to neighbourhood drug culture. Folks gather outside on the sidewalk and inside the lobby. Traffic seems to have increased since December when VANDU began distributing free crack pipes to addicts, part of a VCH crack pipe giveaway. But mainly, thanks to longtime leader Ann Livingston, VANDU exists for activism...
VANDU gets $250,000 from province, $20,000 from city hall
By Mark Hasiuk, Vancouver Courier, February 13, 2012
Two hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
That’s how much Vancouver Coastal Health, your public health authority, gave VANDU, the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, last year. This year, according to VCH officials, VANDU will receive another $250,000 from taxpayers, continuing a provincial funding scheme established in 1999.
Most Vancouverites don’t know VANDU. Headquartered in a brick building at 380 East Hastings in the Downtown Eastside, it’s a non-profit hangout conforming to neighbourhood drug culture. Folks gather outside on the sidewalk and inside the lobby. Traffic seems to have increased since December when VANDU began distributing free crack pipes to addicts, part of a VCH crack pipe giveaway. But mainly, thanks to longtime leader Ann Livingston, VANDU exists for activism...
2/12/12
"Harmless pot" propaganda crash again
Weed Doubles the Risk of Causing Serious and Fatal Car Crashes
Cannabis twice as likely to cause road smash, British Medical Journal (BMJ) finds
Pot smoking doubles risk of crash: study
( It is clear that pro-pot advocates, addicts and legalization supporters are willing to accept many INEVITABLE, ADDITIONAL deaths from vehicle accidents due to pot use, as a PRICE of legalization--in order to satisfy the pot cravings of some. It's just "collateral damages". No big deal. Pot smokers' happiness is more important than a few thousand additional accident deaths per year in the future )
Cannabis twice as likely to cause road smash, British Medical Journal (BMJ) finds
Pot smoking doubles risk of crash: study
( It is clear that pro-pot advocates, addicts and legalization supporters are willing to accept many INEVITABLE, ADDITIONAL deaths from vehicle accidents due to pot use, as a PRICE of legalization--in order to satisfy the pot cravings of some. It's just "collateral damages". No big deal. Pot smokers' happiness is more important than a few thousand additional accident deaths per year in the future )
1/25/12
"Harm reduction" term used to disguise today's 19th century-style drug dens
(The following letter appeared in the letter section of The Province newspaper)
Forget harm reduction, let's have dope reduction instead
By G. Phillip Braun, The Province January 22, 2012
Dr. Anthony Ocana's recent letter to the editor is indicative of the liberal view of drug addiction in this city by a select list of special-interest groups that is turning us into a haven for crack addicts, heroin addicts and other socially destructive behaviours. I am tired of it.
Firstly, Dr. Ocana should under-stand that the media are sup-posed to provide a balanced view of issues. I guess editorialists are now no longer allowed to express opinions in Vancouver, in particular around socially critical issues like drugs because we wouldn't want to upset people like him.
I always find the so called expert's choice of the words "harm reduction" pathetic when it comes to these programs. Harm reduction? How about some dope reduction!
Secondly, I thank him for his explanation of "fundamentals of neurobiology" for those of us who "don't understand addiction". Sounds like all of us in this town are stupid and Dr. Ocana has all the answers. Every time someone criticizes or has an opposing view of Insite or any of the other drug/ alcohol related harm-reduction programs in town we get branded as unaware, ignorant or need to be better educated on drug/alcohol addiction by people like him.
Frankly, I can do without Dr. Oca-na's form of education. We have ideas and solutions, but, suggesting anything that isn't providing a place to shoot up, provide a crack pipe, free alcohol or explain how it's better to snort heroin instead of injecting it is likely going to be viewed as a suggestion from the "uninformed."
Finally, I find his comparison of a cancer patient to a drug addict an insult. How can he conclude a child with any form of cancer is no different from some crack addict?
Our city and provincial leaders need to start listening to the silent majority. I am sick of the drugs, their effects and the direction the city is taking relative to their bogus harm-reduction programs. Harm reduction is some theorist's view of a utopian response to people who simply don't want to be responsible for their actions.
G. Phillip Braun, Vancouver
http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=c702c015-9962-4106-a142-1ded1a3969a5
Forget harm reduction, let's have dope reduction instead
By G. Phillip Braun, The Province January 22, 2012
Dr. Anthony Ocana's recent letter to the editor is indicative of the liberal view of drug addiction in this city by a select list of special-interest groups that is turning us into a haven for crack addicts, heroin addicts and other socially destructive behaviours. I am tired of it.
Firstly, Dr. Ocana should under-stand that the media are sup-posed to provide a balanced view of issues. I guess editorialists are now no longer allowed to express opinions in Vancouver, in particular around socially critical issues like drugs because we wouldn't want to upset people like him.
I always find the so called expert's choice of the words "harm reduction" pathetic when it comes to these programs. Harm reduction? How about some dope reduction!
Secondly, I thank him for his explanation of "fundamentals of neurobiology" for those of us who "don't understand addiction". Sounds like all of us in this town are stupid and Dr. Ocana has all the answers. Every time someone criticizes or has an opposing view of Insite or any of the other drug/ alcohol related harm-reduction programs in town we get branded as unaware, ignorant or need to be better educated on drug/alcohol addiction by people like him.
Frankly, I can do without Dr. Oca-na's form of education. We have ideas and solutions, but, suggesting anything that isn't providing a place to shoot up, provide a crack pipe, free alcohol or explain how it's better to snort heroin instead of injecting it is likely going to be viewed as a suggestion from the "uninformed."
Finally, I find his comparison of a cancer patient to a drug addict an insult. How can he conclude a child with any form of cancer is no different from some crack addict?
Our city and provincial leaders need to start listening to the silent majority. I am sick of the drugs, their effects and the direction the city is taking relative to their bogus harm-reduction programs. Harm reduction is some theorist's view of a utopian response to people who simply don't want to be responsible for their actions.
G. Phillip Braun, Vancouver
http://www2.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.html?id=c702c015-9962-4106-a142-1ded1a3969a5
1/11/12
Crack pipe giveaway drapes Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
Crack pipe giveaway drapes Vancouver's Downtown Eastside
VCH spends $60,000 on 60,000 pipes
By Mark Hasiuk, Vancouver Courier, January 9, 2012
In the Downtown Eastside, crack cocaine is king. As the neighbourhood's most popular drug, it's used solely or with other drugs such as heroin or methadone. It's a symptom and cause of widespread misery.
All along Hasting Street, a gauntlet of crack dealers flog their wares. "Rock." "Base." "Best rock right here." According to locals, quality varies depending on the dealer and the price. A typical crack "rock" sells for $10. "But most of it's shit," said Allan Diplock, a short, fidgety 42-year-old with thick bifocals whom I met last Friday morning. Standing on a rain-soaked East Hastings street corner, Diplock represents the target demographic for the provincial government's latest harm reduction experiment in the Downtown Eastside.
VCH spends $60,000 on 60,000 pipes
By Mark Hasiuk, Vancouver Courier, January 9, 2012
In the Downtown Eastside, crack cocaine is king. As the neighbourhood's most popular drug, it's used solely or with other drugs such as heroin or methadone. It's a symptom and cause of widespread misery.
All along Hasting Street, a gauntlet of crack dealers flog their wares. "Rock." "Base." "Best rock right here." According to locals, quality varies depending on the dealer and the price. A typical crack "rock" sells for $10. "But most of it's shit," said Allan Diplock, a short, fidgety 42-year-old with thick bifocals whom I met last Friday morning. Standing on a rain-soaked East Hastings street corner, Diplock represents the target demographic for the provincial government's latest harm reduction experiment in the Downtown Eastside.
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