Tony At 10: DRUGS, ADDICTS, SOLUTIONS? BLOG # 2203: FRI AUG 30, 2019

THE COMEBACK:

“GO AHEAD. PEE ON THE ELECTRIC FENCE. IT’LL BE FUN!”

“BASTARDS!"

THE MESSAGE:

In Toronto from 2014 to 2019 to date there have been 117 shootings. How many of these shootings are connected to the sale or use of narcotics? It has been reported that the opioids crisis is killing an average of 12 people per day in Canada. leaving friends and family struggling for ways to cope with a deep and sudden loss.

The over-prescribing of poorly researched, high-dose opioids for pain management has exposed the Canadian population to danger. Another statistic of chemical abuse shows that, in Ontario, alcohol is involved in 20 per cent of opioid deaths. W

THE BLURB:

British Columbia has responded to the opioid crisis by declaring a public health emergency. This province expanded the number of supervised drug-consumption sites and distributed naloxone, an overdose-reversal medication.

Reports from British Columbia’s show that fewer people are dying from drug overdoses. In June, 73 people died of suspected illicit drug overdoses. This represents a drop of 35 per cent compared with 113 for the same month last year. Fentanyl was detected in more than four out of every five deaths in 2018 and during the first six months of this year, it said. Do these users know what they are consuming? Does the B.C, solution go far enough? Can bullying at school lead to drug addiction by vulnerable teens?

Read this article from the Globe and Mail, Monday Aug 19, 2019 :

THE CRISIS

Is, the crisis largely a health problem rather than a criminal-law problem. SOME say that addictions may lead to crimes, but addiction itself is a health-care issue. I say that if addiction leads to crime then it becomes more than a physical health issue.

The direction in which our remedies are headed reveals that production and sale will always be illegal. But possessors of a small amount of drugs would face fines and the like rather than criminal prosecution. However helpful, this remedy surely will not solve the opioid crisis by itself. How do we identify the sellers? How do we prevent distribution? How do we protect potential users?

While a stint in jail does nothing to help a drug user deal with their problems, neither does enabling their usage habits.

A better solution would be to introduce drug rehab prisons. The time served would be used to eliminate drugs through healthy reduction treatments, supervision, education and internal employment. These incarcerated users would carry no formal, publicized record that would weigh heavily on their efforts to get a job and rehabilitate their future life.

Decriminalization of drugs is not a complete solution that will end drug addiction. It can be part of a broader strategy that includes several other steps. Some argue that such rehab prisons would still present a looming threat of intervention for drug possession and would scare people away from seeking help. They claim that users will be encouraged to engage in dangerous behaviours, such as doing drugs alone.

Some of the steps below would involve more money for treatment and less money spent on prosecution. I believe some of the answers could lie in the following:

Severely punish those involved in the smuggling of drugs.
Declare war on gangs in Canada!
Crack down on drug companies who are involved with the illegal distribution of drugs.
Restrict travel to and from known use or known production countries.
Introduce more thorough screening and security measures at borders and airports to prevent the smuggling of drugs.
Create a new Federal Ministry to organize effective solutions.
Have Community Colleges offer rehab training courses for qualified staffing applicants.
Build new high rise facilities on acreage in the suburbs that house addicts and would not have stigma attachments.
Hold compulsory regular classes for inmates.
Offer and encourage mandatory courses in finding gainful future employment for inmates.
Provide a physical training gymnasium.
Schedule inmate employment time to produce their own food products for their facility.
Provide comfortable visitation facilities for family members and friends.
Crete a help desk within the rehab prisons that would offer free help and be open to addicts.

A suitable study would be to look to other countries. One experience internationally can be examined in Portugal which decriminalized drugs in 2001. Drug use there has not spiked and the rate of cannabis usage among young adults is less than half that of that in Canada.

THE QUESTION: