The parents should sue, BC government and all the people responsible for her death. Our governments are all drug pushers, quite frankly there should be a lot of government employees who should be in jail.
Barbara, I'm definitely with you on the need for more emphasis on prevention (and if that means re-stigmatizing drug use, heck yeah).
Enforcement, too. It seems to me that when there is an overdose death (like the one last winter in a University of Victoria dorm room, for example) it shouldn't be too difficult to ascertain who supplied the fatal drugs. Suppliers/dealers should be detained (not released pending a court date in two years!) and should face murder charges in some cases.
I don't agree with the need to "immediately close all safe-consumption sites in the province." That would be reckless and would suggest a total lack of compassion or forethought. We need to rethink the sites, maybe close some of them, maybe not open any more, but until other measures are brought up to speed, making abrupt changes just for the sake of taking a stand or making a political statement, no, I don't see that as solving anything. There must be efforts made to determine whether, and why, some harm reduction projects are actually causing more harms than they "reduce."
<< The location in the Downtown Eastside at the Hope to Health Research and Innovation Centre was unveiled Wednesday after construction was complete, and Montaner said people could start using the specialized rooms in a matter of weeks after final approvals from the city and federal government. . . .
<< Nearly two-thirds of overdose deaths in British Columbia in 2023 came after smoking illicit drugs, yet only 40 per cent of supervised consumption sites in the province offer a safe place to smoke, often outdoors, in a tent. . . .
<< The centre has been running a supervised injection site for years which sees more than a thousand people monthly and last month resuscitated five people who were overdosing.
<< The new facilities offer indoor, individual, negative-pressure rooms that allow fresh air to circulate and can clear out smoke in 30 to 60 seconds while users are monitored by trained nurses. >>
For a video tour of a drug inhalation site that opened in Victoria last winter:
Hi, Joan, and thank you for sharing this information, which I was not aware of. When I say close safe injection sites, I don't intend it in a punitive way. To me, the goal needs to be prevention and recovery. Yesterday's Natonal Post ran an article about a documentary made by Adam Zivo:
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association were the two main groups that objected to the legislation, because the government hadn't consulted them. They believed the involuntary 7-day detention in hospital could cause youth to distrust the system and therefore stop them from seeking care. Also that Indigenous youth would be disproportionately affected by the legislation.
If the bill was rushed and there was a failure to consult, it was likely because the government was responding to what they considered an emergency situation. “[Mental Health and Addictions Minister] Judy Darcy touted the proposed law as a vital emergency measure to ensure the immediate safety of young people in crisis and said it was based on the advice of multiple experts. She also said youth would leave a hospital with a clear plan to access voluntary services in the community.”
“In 2016, he injured his shoulder wrestling. According to the report, the teen obtained Dilaudid, a brand of the opioid hydromorphone, from a fellow student. After that, Elliot's drug use escalated.”
Dilaudid is the safer supply drug that is everywhere now, and super cheap, because it’s not the drug of choice for many of the addicts on the program.
There is a former NDP MEP in BC, Ellis Ross who has been talking about "dillies" for some time. He is a FNs member and could see what it was doing to the youth. He recently announced that he had given up on the NDP and joined the Federal Conservative team.
Ellis Ross was elected as a BC Liberal MLA in 2017, taking over what HAD been an NDP stronghold (Skeena). Ross wasn't ever with the NDP, as far as I know. He announced in January this year that he wouldn't be running again for the BC United (formerly Liberal) in this fall's election, so that he could run federally for the CPC. In the meantime he's still the BC United MLA for Skeena until Oct. 19.
It's disgraceful how governments have taken the responsibility of raising children away from the parents and placed decision-making in the hands of teachers, social workers, and local law-enforcement.
Back in the day, we referred to it as the "Nanny State". I can understand teachers being trained to spot signs of drug/alcohol abuse, physical abuse in the home or signs of neglect and then involving the school principal, the school nurse or the school counsellor to document their concerns.
What l don't understand is making decisions for the child or allowing the child to make unhealthy or potentially dangerous decisions for themselves without the parents being fully informed. I think the forced vaccination of school children during Covid and the expulsion of students whose parents refused sign the waivers was the beginning of the rot.
This latest epidemic of gender affirmation, choosing pro-nouns, and offering medical intervention without the parents knowledge is terrifying. I always considered schools to be "Safe Spaces" for children but, the Wokies have somehow managed to twist everything.
Our school system is fully corrupt with poisonous ideology, as are our universities. Our children are at their mercy, which is not kind but malicious. We need a serious overall of schools and universities. Why are provincial legislatures not acting on behalf of Canadian citizens?
Addiction is complex and the solutions are multi-factorial. Having treated it for many years in my practice in Ontario, I often experienced the frustration of patients relapsing. Detox by itself is only the first step. Then comes the real work of replacing the nutrients back into the addict’s system that the substances they were using depleted (this is NOT sanctioned by addiction standards guidelines). IV Nutrients both eliminate the withdrawal syndrome, and replenish what is missing, which contributes to the inflammation and possibly of relapse. Once this is done, counselling (to determine the cause of the addiction) and environmental change for the patient (where possible) is also necessary to prevent relapse due to triggers. Most if this work never gets done (or only partially). In an effort to draw attention to these deficiencies in our system, my colleagues and I wrote this manual which we used to share with patients: https://open.substack.com/pub/alexaudette/p/the-intelligent-self-abuse-manual?r=1z6cwm&utm_medium=ios
Knowledge is power, and that is what this manual provides. Contrary to popular belief, methadone maintenance doesn’t work well and only succeeds in creating a ward of the state, who is trapped into perpetual “treatment “. While safe injection sites can be a part of the solution, they need to be more attached to a quid pro quo agreement on the part of the addict to agree to recovery and reintegrate back into society (which is also enormously difficult)
I find that the forced treatment without consent as the focus as disturbing. First because of the facts the step father set out that included giving 12 year-olds brochures how to shoot up, and then store fronts were selling the drugs and marketing them as 'safe'.
Because I've see New Zealand’s Pandemic Prevention plan. Where the police can assist the chief medical officer of health with force if necessary with the quarantining of PEOPLE ANIMALS VESSELS PLACES AND THINGS. And then administer with force if necessary preventative medications.
Narratives that make main stream media that echo this are not in my opinion accidental.
Where does treatment without consent go. Always examine the levers.
Remember public health doesn't care about children and their access to drugs.
Toronto public health wanted to
decriminalize all hard drugs with no lower age limit. Therefore no way to get it out of schools.
When public health ramps up their next SAFE CAMPAIGN Remember shooting yourself with heroine or smoking yourself some meth makes the SAFE ASSESSMENT.
I'm so sad for those parents. I'm worried about parents. 13 percent of kids grades 7 to 12 admit using opiods. Interesting. How much using can you do before it's a problem.
Forced treatment of minors is to my mind an oxymoron, as minors are unable to give consent. Although Canadian courts recognise the decision-making capacity of some mature minors to make decisions about their own health care, mature minors are usually 16 and over. Personally, I cannot see how an addicted 12 year old can in any sense be considered to have the capacity to consent or to refuse treatment.
I will throw a bit of a stink bomb out and suggest that given a certain age limit, and perhaps after two or three attempts at rehabilitation, we accept the individual has consciously chosen MAID and move forward from there.
Ian, if it was my son or daughter, my brother or sister, I personnally would have a very hard time indeed accepting that. I would wake up each day to wish and pray and rail against fate in the hope that my loved one would recover.
The ndp will always prioritize their socialist ideology over reality, even when it means they get blood on their hands. Disgusting.
God bless Brianna and her parents and family.
The parents should sue, BC government and all the people responsible for her death. Our governments are all drug pushers, quite frankly there should be a lot of government employees who should be in jail.
Agreed.
Great. I support all you say.
Thank you.
Barbara, I'm definitely with you on the need for more emphasis on prevention (and if that means re-stigmatizing drug use, heck yeah).
Enforcement, too. It seems to me that when there is an overdose death (like the one last winter in a University of Victoria dorm room, for example) it shouldn't be too difficult to ascertain who supplied the fatal drugs. Suppliers/dealers should be detained (not released pending a court date in two years!) and should face murder charges in some cases.
I don't agree with the need to "immediately close all safe-consumption sites in the province." That would be reckless and would suggest a total lack of compassion or forethought. We need to rethink the sites, maybe close some of them, maybe not open any more, but until other measures are brought up to speed, making abrupt changes just for the sake of taking a stand or making a political statement, no, I don't see that as solving anything. There must be efforts made to determine whether, and why, some harm reduction projects are actually causing more harms than they "reduce."
Thank you, Joan, for sharing your views.
A couple of things from yesterday's news cycle that might interest you.
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/health/other/one-third-of-b-c-s-publicly-funded-substance-use-treatment-beds-don-t-provide-any-treatment/ar-AA1qMmXt?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=4740aed44b334b21bcba9bb9a8acd894&ei=11 Sept. 18, 2024
And:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/health/other/construction-wraps-on-indoor-supervised-site-for-people-who-inhale-drugs-in-vancouver/ar-AA1qNb9S?ocid=msedgntp&pc=LCTS&cvid=d5bb2008de8648bea95c1e71b1246996&ei=16 Sept. 18, 2024. "Montaner said building the facility was possible thanks to a single $4-million donation from a longtime supporter." More from the article:
<< The location in the Downtown Eastside at the Hope to Health Research and Innovation Centre was unveiled Wednesday after construction was complete, and Montaner said people could start using the specialized rooms in a matter of weeks after final approvals from the city and federal government. . . .
<< Nearly two-thirds of overdose deaths in British Columbia in 2023 came after smoking illicit drugs, yet only 40 per cent of supervised consumption sites in the province offer a safe place to smoke, often outdoors, in a tent. . . .
<< The centre has been running a supervised injection site for years which sees more than a thousand people monthly and last month resuscitated five people who were overdosing.
<< The new facilities offer indoor, individual, negative-pressure rooms that allow fresh air to circulate and can clear out smoke in 30 to 60 seconds while users are monitored by trained nurses. >>
For a video tour of a drug inhalation site that opened in Victoria last winter:
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/permanent-drug-inhalation-site-opens-in-victoria-1.6687709 Dec. 14, 2023.
Hi, Joan, and thank you for sharing this information, which I was not aware of. When I say close safe injection sites, I don't intend it in a punitive way. To me, the goal needs to be prevention and recovery. Yesterday's Natonal Post ran an article about a documentary made by Adam Zivo:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sdiYPl8LNyM
Thanks, Barbara. I'm a fan of Zivo. Will watch this tonight.
Please share what you thought about it.
Four years ago in BC:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-overdose-detain-legislation-1.5659762 July 22, 2020. It was called the Youth Stabilization Act, or Bill 22. The government withdrew it and decided against resubmitting it, even with revisions, because of concerns that it would cause youth TOO MUCH TRAUMA.
The Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association were the two main groups that objected to the legislation, because the government hadn't consulted them. They believed the involuntary 7-day detention in hospital could cause youth to distrust the system and therefore stop them from seeking care. Also that Indigenous youth would be disproportionately affected by the legislation.
If the bill was rushed and there was a failure to consult, it was likely because the government was responding to what they considered an emergency situation. “[Mental Health and Addictions Minister] Judy Darcy touted the proposed law as a vital emergency measure to ensure the immediate safety of young people in crisis and said it was based on the advice of multiple experts. She also said youth would leave a hospital with a clear plan to access voluntary services in the community.”
Elliot Eurchuk was 16 when he fatally overdosed in 2018. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/verdict-coroner-eurchuk-inquest-recommendations-1.5459477 Feb. 11, 2020. He’d had opioids prescribed for sports injuries, but prior to that his first use of drugs was hydromorphone given to him by a fellow high school student:
“In 2016, he injured his shoulder wrestling. According to the report, the teen obtained Dilaudid, a brand of the opioid hydromorphone, from a fellow student. After that, Elliot's drug use escalated.”
Dilaudid is the safer supply drug that is everywhere now, and super cheap, because it’s not the drug of choice for many of the addicts on the program.
There is a former NDP MEP in BC, Ellis Ross who has been talking about "dillies" for some time. He is a FNs member and could see what it was doing to the youth. He recently announced that he had given up on the NDP and joined the Federal Conservative team.
Ellis Ross was elected as a BC Liberal MLA in 2017, taking over what HAD been an NDP stronghold (Skeena). Ross wasn't ever with the NDP, as far as I know. He announced in January this year that he wouldn't be running again for the BC United (formerly Liberal) in this fall's election, so that he could run federally for the CPC. In the meantime he's still the BC United MLA for Skeena until Oct. 19.
Thank you. BC politics has never made sense to me but, Ross seems like he will do what's best for the people.
It's disgraceful how governments have taken the responsibility of raising children away from the parents and placed decision-making in the hands of teachers, social workers, and local law-enforcement.
Back in the day, we referred to it as the "Nanny State". I can understand teachers being trained to spot signs of drug/alcohol abuse, physical abuse in the home or signs of neglect and then involving the school principal, the school nurse or the school counsellor to document their concerns.
What l don't understand is making decisions for the child or allowing the child to make unhealthy or potentially dangerous decisions for themselves without the parents being fully informed. I think the forced vaccination of school children during Covid and the expulsion of students whose parents refused sign the waivers was the beginning of the rot.
This latest epidemic of gender affirmation, choosing pro-nouns, and offering medical intervention without the parents knowledge is terrifying. I always considered schools to be "Safe Spaces" for children but, the Wokies have somehow managed to twist everything.
Our school system is fully corrupt with poisonous ideology, as are our universities. Our children are at their mercy, which is not kind but malicious. We need a serious overall of schools and universities. Why are provincial legislatures not acting on behalf of Canadian citizens?
Thank you. Children need protection and guidance; they are definitionally not yet capable of making mature decisions.
Addiction is complex and the solutions are multi-factorial. Having treated it for many years in my practice in Ontario, I often experienced the frustration of patients relapsing. Detox by itself is only the first step. Then comes the real work of replacing the nutrients back into the addict’s system that the substances they were using depleted (this is NOT sanctioned by addiction standards guidelines). IV Nutrients both eliminate the withdrawal syndrome, and replenish what is missing, which contributes to the inflammation and possibly of relapse. Once this is done, counselling (to determine the cause of the addiction) and environmental change for the patient (where possible) is also necessary to prevent relapse due to triggers. Most if this work never gets done (or only partially). In an effort to draw attention to these deficiencies in our system, my colleagues and I wrote this manual which we used to share with patients: https://open.substack.com/pub/alexaudette/p/the-intelligent-self-abuse-manual?r=1z6cwm&utm_medium=ios
Knowledge is power, and that is what this manual provides. Contrary to popular belief, methadone maintenance doesn’t work well and only succeeds in creating a ward of the state, who is trapped into perpetual “treatment “. While safe injection sites can be a part of the solution, they need to be more attached to a quid pro quo agreement on the part of the addict to agree to recovery and reintegrate back into society (which is also enormously difficult)
I find that the forced treatment without consent as the focus as disturbing. First because of the facts the step father set out that included giving 12 year-olds brochures how to shoot up, and then store fronts were selling the drugs and marketing them as 'safe'.
Because I've see New Zealand’s Pandemic Prevention plan. Where the police can assist the chief medical officer of health with force if necessary with the quarantining of PEOPLE ANIMALS VESSELS PLACES AND THINGS. And then administer with force if necessary preventative medications.
Narratives that make main stream media that echo this are not in my opinion accidental.
Where does treatment without consent go. Always examine the levers.
Remember public health doesn't care about children and their access to drugs.
Toronto public health wanted to
decriminalize all hard drugs with no lower age limit. Therefore no way to get it out of schools.
When public health ramps up their next SAFE CAMPAIGN Remember shooting yourself with heroine or smoking yourself some meth makes the SAFE ASSESSMENT.
I'm so sad for those parents. I'm worried about parents. 13 percent of kids grades 7 to 12 admit using opiods. Interesting. How much using can you do before it's a problem.
Forced treatment of minors is to my mind an oxymoron, as minors are unable to give consent. Although Canadian courts recognise the decision-making capacity of some mature minors to make decisions about their own health care, mature minors are usually 16 and over. Personally, I cannot see how an addicted 12 year old can in any sense be considered to have the capacity to consent or to refuse treatment.
Ian
I will throw a bit of a stink bomb out and suggest that given a certain age limit, and perhaps after two or three attempts at rehabilitation, we accept the individual has consciously chosen MAID and move forward from there.
Ian, if it was my son or daughter, my brother or sister, I personnally would have a very hard time indeed accepting that. I would wake up each day to wish and pray and rail against fate in the hope that my loved one would recover.