Read on Twitter
Today, I dropped into this drug user hate fest meeting held by my MLA, I guess because I& #39;m a curious masochist.
Here are a few of the things I heard (THREAD) https://twitter.com/sam_sullivan/status/1313612101093482499">https://twitter.com/sam_sulli...
Here are a few of the things I heard (THREAD) https://twitter.com/sam_sullivan/status/1313612101093482499">https://twitter.com/sam_sulli...
This meeting was a who& #39;s who of Vancouver& #39;s opponents to harm reduction. Michael Geldert, the new chair of @SaferVancouver, Tania (no last name?) also of SV, most of the conservative city counselors, and the now-infamous Nadia Iadisernia, who was busy filling the chat with venom.
(Which isn& #39;t surprising. More on Nadia here: https://twitter.com/crackdownpod/status/1301316891051323392)">https://twitter.com/crackdown...
I joined late, but just in time to hear @sam_sullivan extol the virtues of abstinence as the only effective treatment for addiction: "we know this works better; we should fund this instead."
Except that isn& #39;t true. Via Toronto& #39;s @camhfoundation, "rates of return to opioid use and overdose risk are high, and because of this, medical experts do not consider withdrawal followed by abstinence to be a treatment for opioid addiction": http://camh.ca/-/media/files/guides-and-publications/making-choice-en.pdf">https://camh.ca/-/media/f...
It may work for some, but abstinence rehab programs have abysmally low success rates. So what works? A multifaceted approach. Housing. Counseling. Harm reduction. Addressing roots of poverty, injustice, inequality. Telling addicts to just "stop using" is not a serious position.
Our approach MUST include harm reduction (such as supervised consumption) and opioid agonist therapy (OAT). Both are things that reduce mortality and improve quality of life.
Later, @sam_sullivan said "Safe injection sites aren& #39;t actually safe b/c ppl are injecting street drugs, which are poisoned."
Except there has never been a SINGLE death at any safe injection site anywhere in North America. So what are you talking about, @sam_sullivan?
Except there has never been a SINGLE death at any safe injection site anywhere in North America. So what are you talking about, @sam_sullivan?
If street drugs are so dangerous, why aren& #39;t you for safe supply?
It sounds a lot like the position is "We& #39;ve tried nothing, and we& #39;re out of ideas. Could drug users please be courteous and die in some other neighborhood?"
It sounds a lot like the position is "We& #39;ve tried nothing, and we& #39;re out of ideas. Could drug users please be courteous and die in some other neighborhood?"
The deterioration of neighborhood safety (a real issue!) would be a lot easier to have a productive conversation about if it wasn& #39;t paired with disdainful messaging that essentially calls on drug users to drop dead.
If you live in Vancouver-False Creek, please do not vote for @sam_sullivan. He isn& #39;t bringing any serious solutions to the table. He& #39;s clearly only interested in coasting to victory on a wave of regressive, anti-homeless, anti-drug user sentiment.
Finally, your moment of zen: because I don& #39;t agree with demonizing drug users, I must be a drug dealer. NIMBY logic at its finest.
