9 people overdosed on Fentanyl in Vancouver yesterday

[calgaryblood]

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/b...ight-1.3900437

This Fentanly crisis isn't going away anytime soon. There needs to be a lot of resources thrown at this crisis before it gets even more out of control.

[rubecube]

It's brutal both in Vancouver and Victoria and really isn't getting the national attention it deserves. With that said, the Liberals are at least trying to do something about it. It's just too bad that we had 8 years of Conservative ideological intransigence on the subject that really put us behind the 8-ball.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/safe...pott-1.3892687

The government said in a statement that the existing National Anti-Drug Strategy would be replaced with a "more balanced approach" called the Canadian Drugs and Substances Strategy. The new strategy "restores harm reduction as a core pillar of Canada's drug policy."

That new strategy would also put drug policy back under the Health ministry and away from the Justice department.

"It will reframe problematic substance use as the public health issue that it is. It will return the lead on the Canadian drugs and substances strategy to the minister of health rather than the minister of justice," said Philpott.

[CaptainCrunch]

I still think that if your caught selling that sh%t its an attempted murder charge right away. Everyone including these dealers and the people making it knows its deadly.

I'm all for throwing resources at this as well. but I think this has to be attacked on both sides.

[activeStick]

They are throwing resources at it. Vancouver approved a hike to home owner property tax to help with the situation. I believe it's a 3% increase.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I still think that if your caught selling that sh%t its an attempted murder charge right away. Everyone including these dealers and the people making it knows its deadly.

I'm all for throwing resources at this as well. but I think this has to be attacked on both sides.

The problem is that a lot of the street-level dealers are addicts themselves. If you want to look for someone to blame it starts in Mexico and then runs through the HA and various other gangs. Good luck trying to catch and shut those guys down even with harsher sentences.

[Senator Clay Davis]

There was an article today about the issue in the Washington Post so it's probably going to start becoming more of a discussion throughout North America. Deadliest drug I can remember.

The deaths are happening so frequently that some funeral directors are supplying their premises with naloxone kits to reverse possible overdoses among grieving loved ones or the staff who handle the bodies of opioid overdose victims. The British Columbia Funeral Association sent a bulletin to its members last month urging funeral directors to carry the kits, the Vancouver Sun reported.

The overdose crisis playing out in each local funeral home is a microcosm of the fentanyl epidemic raging across British Columbia, Canada’s westernmost province and the epicenter of opioid deaths in the country. In the first 10 months of 2016, 622 people died of apparent illicit drug overdoses in British Columbia, compared to 397 during the same period in 2015. About 60 percent of the deaths were linked to fentanyl, according to the British Columbia Coroners Service.

Fentanyl, the fast-acting synthetic painkiller that killed Prince, is up to 100 times stronger than morphine. Overdoses of the opiate can be reversed with naloxone, which blocks the receptors in the brain where opiates attach. In response to the growing opioid crisis in the United States and Canada, officials have rushed to put naloxone in the hands of drug users’ families and friends.

In April, British Columbia’s health officer declared a public health emergency due to the alarming increase in drug-related overdoses and deaths. It was the first time he had exercised his emergency powers. By late September, 13,000 lifesaving kits had been distributed across the province to sites such as hospitals, jails, and health centers, the Canadian Press reported.

Many public servants who work at the forefront of the crisis — particularly police officers — have begun issuing naloxone nasal spray to front-line officers and support staff who might come in contact with the drug while responding to overdoses. In Vancouver, clandestine lab teams in hazmat suits that once specialized in dismantling crystal meth labs are now being called in to handle fentanyl seizures, the CBC reported. Several police officers in the region have suffered overdose symptoms when seizing fentanyl powder.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.1ea91deb4c6a

[CaptainCrunch]

Personally I don't have a lot of sympathy for the dealers even if they are addicts. I agree in terms of going up the chain on this which probably means more money for intelligence and border security.

Being an addict doesn't mean its ok to sell poison to other people.

[afc wimbledon]

I have a Narcan kit in my first aid box in case one of my foster kids OD's. my worse nightmare as a foster parent, already buried one kids mum who OD'd in October.
At this rate they'll be no more addicts left within three or four years.

its truly bizarre and I've seen some bad eras already, I've never seen anything like this

[blankall]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/b...ight-1.3900437

This Fentanly crisis isn't going away anytime soon. There needs to be a lot of resources thrown at this crisis before it gets even more out of control.

Sadly, I don't think this is really anything out of the ordinary. The only thing unusual here is that 9 people actually died. There are teams of paramedics in downtown Vancouver who are working around the clock with specially designed kits to revive people who have ODed on Fentanyl. The city is even increasing property taxes by .5% to deal with the issue.

I'm not really sure how you can deal with the issue. You have a cheaper, more easily accessible, and insanely strong alternative to heroin out there now. Vancouver has failed miserably at curbing people from doing drugs or treating mental health issues. The best they can offer is safe injection sites. That's hardly going to help when addicts are actively seeking out Fentanyl, as they want the strongest stuff possible.

[rubecube]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

Personally I don't have a lot of sympathy for the dealers even if they are addicts. I agree in terms of going up the chain on this which probably means more money for intelligence and border security.

Being an addict doesn't mean its ok to sell poison to other people.

You're dealing with people who are generally suffering from sever mental illness, learning disabilities, below-average intelligence, etc. These aren't well-to-do people who make the conscious decision to throw a good life away and become a scumbag.

You want to point fingers at people, point them at the politicians and voters who continue to allow for the absolutely abysmal allocation of resources to mental health care across this country.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by rubecube

You're dealing with people who are generally suffering from sever mental illness, learning disabilities, below-average intelligence, etc. These aren't well-to-do people who make the conscious decision to throw a good life away and become a scumbag.

You want to point fingers at people, point them at the politicians and voters who continue to allow for the absolutely abysmal allocation of resources to mental health care across this country.

It's not an easy problem to fix, no matter who is in power.

[Blaster86]

Originally Posted by blankall

Vancouver has failed miserably at curbing people from doing drugs or treating mental health issues.

Blaming Vancouver isn't right. It was the BC Liberals cutting back programs and closing facilities that pushed all these people that need help and need to be looked after into the streets.

That Vancouver is raising property tax to deal with a problem that the Provincial government should be handling or helping to handle is very telling.

[activeStick]

I can't understand why a dealer would mix fentanyl with other drugs and sell as say, cocaine for example. Yes, it's cheaper, but if there's significant risk it kills your demand off, doesn't make sense to me.

The crocodile drug has also been seen in Vancouver over the last month leading to a number of overdoses and deaths. It's much stronger than fentanyl I believe.

[afc wimbledon]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I can't understand why a dealer would mix fentanyl with other drugs and sell as say, cocaine for example. Yes, it's cheaper, but if there's significant risk it kills your demand off, doesn't make sense to me.

The crocodile drug has also been seen in Vancouver over the last month leading to a number of overdoses and deaths. It's much stronger than fentanyl I believe.

Doesn't kill demand, it increases it unfortunatly, much like Colt 45 'this **** will eff you up' is the sales pitch.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I can't understand why a dealer would mix fentanyl with other drugs and sell as say, cocaine for example. Yes, it's cheaper, but if there's significant risk it kills your demand off, doesn't make sense to me.

The crocodile drug has also been seen in Vancouver over the last month leading to a number of overdoses and deaths. It's much stronger than fentanyl I believe.

I think you're crediting the average drug dealer with a vastly superior understanding of economics than they probably have.

Granted, I agree with you in principle. Its similar to people who are concerned that their drug dealer is lacing their weed with cocaine.

That doesnt make any sense to me because as I understand it Cocaine is significantly more expensive than weed. That sounds like, as the drug purchaser, you're getting quite the deal!

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

Doesn't kill demand, it increases it unfortunatly, much like Colt 45 'this **** will eff you up' is the sales pitch.

Not if a small amount will kill the user...

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by activeStick

I can't understand why a dealer would mix fentanyl with other drugs and sell as say, cocaine for example. Yes, it's cheaper, but if there's significant risk it kills your demand off, doesn't make sense to me.

The crocodile drug has also been seen in Vancouver over the last month leading to a number of overdoses and deaths. It's much stronger than fentanyl I believe.

Krokodil is no joke. If you haven't seen the vice documentary on it in Russia I recommend you check it out. Users usually don't last a year and they get scales on their skin.

[Zarley]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Not if a small amount will kill the user...

AFC is right...I read (or watched, can't remember) an interview of a downtown east side dealer who said he occasionally ups the potency of his product to induce overdoses, which them creates a buzz around his stuff among the junkies on the street. These people are not rational thinkers.

[Flash Walken]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

It's not an easy problem to fix, no matter who is in power.

It's a fuxking easy fix. Supply addicts with medical grade heroin for free.

[northcrunk]

Originally Posted by Zarley

AFC is right...I read (or watched, can't remember) an interview of a downtown east side dealer who said he occasionally ups the potency of his product to induce overdoses, which them creates a buzz around his reduce among the junkies on the street. These people are not rational thinkers.

Pretty much. Users think they have good stuff.