Posted on 04/17/2023 4:00:08 AM PDT by george76
Overdoses continue to skyrocket in B.C. seven years after the province declared the drug epidemic a public health emergency.
Seven years after the province of British Columbia declared the drug epidemic a public health emergency, and just one month after the decriminalization of all drugs, overdoses continue to skyrocket.
According to the Canadian Press, B.C. tragically set three new overdose records this March, just the second month after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s federal government allowed the province to decriminalize all drugs starting February 1, 2023...
In March, B.C. saw the most overdose calls ever recorded in one day (205), the highest 30-day overdose call average (119.9), and the most days in a row where paramedics were called to 100 or more such calls (19).
Declaring the uptick in overdoses a public health emergency on April 14, 2016, recent statistics show that annual deaths have nearly quintupled since the government began ramping up its intervention.
The 2016 emergency was invoked after statistics showed that 474 British Columbians had died from drug overdoses in 2015. In 2022, that number had increased nearly 5-fold, resting at just under 2,300 lives lost.
While the current approach by B.C. and many other liberal governments is to increase the so-called “safe supply” of drugs, to erect “supervised consumption sites” where those addicted can legally use drugs in the presence of medical personnel, or to outright decriminalize the possession of drugs, statistics indicate that this strategy has led to the problem getting worse, not better.
...
For example, the American state of Oregon — separated from B.C. by Washington state — decriminalized all drugs in late 2020.
In 2021, the first full year the policy was in effect, Oregon saw a whopping 52 percent increase in opioid-related deaths, jumping from 472 before decriminalization to 745 after decriminalization.
Similar trends have been observed in other jurisdictions that have opted for a soft-on-crime approach to drugs by law enforcement, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle.
Beyond just statistics, experts and former addicts have also weighed in on the issue, often expressing their displeasure with the current trend being set by government.
Speaking about the danger of drug decriminalization, attorney Heather MacDonald of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research previously told the Epoch Times that “virtually no one is in prison for a possession of a user’s amount of drugs,” but because drugs are illegal, being able to detain and question those in possession of small amounts allows law enforcement access to high-level drug dealers. The criminalization of drugs, she explained, is actually a very “valuable tool … to protect the public from clear harm.”
...
In San Francisco, one former drug addict and dealer, Ricci Wynne, has taken to documenting the state of the city on social media in an effort to show, in his opinion, why decriminalization, “safe consumption” sites, and the entire “harm reduction” model of treating addiction is only making matters worse.
Speaking about these types of policies, Wynne told Fox News host Jesse Watters that since these practices have gone into effect, “people are coming here to San Francisco in droves, for what I like to call ‘druggie tourism.'”
“They come here because they know the consequences are minuscule, if any, and they can come here and just use openly,” he explained.
Wynne then stated that “when all the drug addicts come here, what follows is all the drug dealers,” which he sees as a reason other forms of crime are also on the rise in San Francisco and other similar cities.
“Me, myself, personally, coming from that lifestyle … seeing [San Francisco] in such a disarray like this is quite shocking because they are just doing this stuff in the open right now,” he lamented.
Stone a society ….. Control a society
>>the first full year the policy was in effect, Oregon saw a whopping 52 percent increase in opioid-related deaths
I guess that is one way of cleaning up junkies. They could improve their numbers if they banned Narcan and stopped treating overdose cases entirely.
Dead addicts save on healthcare. That’s exactly why drugs were decriminalized, so the stupids off themselves.
The model they cited is Portugal, which decriminalized drugs years ago
BUT Portugal also increased treatment centers for drug addicts, and made it a legal requirement that anyone caught with hard drugs get mandatory addiction treatment
BC did none of that, it’s just the open Wild West there ... thus, the disturbing results we see now ...
“a learning experience for all”
Unexpected
That's what we should be trying here, but with the understanding that an individual is responsible for any damage to life or property they cause while under the influence, just as we do with drunk drivers.
The DEA sure isn't the answer, but neither is just letting it happen without intervention.
EXACTLY why we should do it.
[British Columbia breaks new overdose records one month after decriminalizing all drugs. ( Canada )]
Gosh. That was hard to predict.
I wonder if those in authority have any respect for those overdosing? I wonder if they are secretly hoping many of those not producing and working will die? They will save a bundle of money.
When people are taught there is no meaning to life, death has no sting.
Those wacky progressives...
Someone should inform the dopers and dealers in the US. Just maybe some would move....that would be nice.
Decriminalizing narcotics while forcing taxpayers and/or insurance companies to cover the cost of drug treatment is one of the dumbest ideas ever to show up here on this website.
Rule #1: The elites want you dead.
Allowing overdoses and Fentanyl deaths is all part of it.
“The top 9 most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”
Pres. Ronald Reagan
well... on the plus side, if they kill themselves they cant vote anymore
I have no sympathy for dopers...
I went to Vancouver a few years ago, never saw so many bums in my life. I can only imagine what it’s like now.
Seems like a self licking ice cream cone. Eventually you run out of drug victims.
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