Canadians love heroin

[Epinephrine]

Jerome:

Methadone isn't the same as heroin. Methadone is a synthetic opiod, it's similar to morphine. It doesn't have the same side effects and heroin and isn't nearly as deadly.


Volcs:

Move to the USA then if all you care about is yourself. Canada is obviously not the right country for you.

[bloodzombie]

Gall, you're right, this isn't new at all, this is just the first time it's been tried in North America, and its not far from me, so it seems odd to me.

Volcs, you make it sound like this is going to break the bank. How much money do you really think this program will cost? Vancouver is just one city and it's not like everyone there is a heroin junkie. A private organization is sharing the bill and I would guess the city of vancouver would do some heavy lifting. It'll be a tiny fraction of one percent of your budget. Besides, if one less old man gets smashed over the head so that his wallet can be stolen, it's a win.

Horny, it's not like retirement... it's not like you put in your 15 years, now you get to live on easy street. I'm sure they know who the hardcores are from medical records and court records and such. Also, junkies steal because they want the fix, not because they want a nice stereo.

[Volcs]

Volcs, you make it sound like this is going to break the bank. How much money do you really think this program will cost? Vancouver is just one city and it's not like everyone there is a heroin junkie. A private organization is sharing the bill and I would guess the city of vancouver would do some heavy lifting. It'll be a tiny fraction of one percent of your budget. Besides, if one less old man gets smashed over the head so that his wallet can be stolen, it's a win.

It isn't just Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto are next in line.

And I never really thought about the old-man-head-smashing. Like I said, I don't live there so I'm not greatly affected. I don't see the effects that heroin does to the city, not just the people and that concentrated area.

I know that this program won't induce some huge tax hike, but I know that there are plenty of other programs that need that money aswell. I suppose, since I don't live there, I just see it as an unrealistic thing to fund at the time. I'm not against these people getting help, but when autistic children have to fight in supreme court for an education (which was rejected for BC, approved for Ontario), it makes me wonder where the government's priorities are.

[foobarz]

I think you're missing about 90% of the point volcs.

They were already giving away needles to confront the AIDS issue, it's not really about that, but I think that's a factor. Every time one of these junkies gets AIDS, $150,000 per year of your precious tax dollars are gone.

Yes, but that's only Canadian money. :-)

Seriously though--regarding your comment on the open mindedness of Canadians vs. Americans--there are plenty of open minded Americans, but we are stuck with a lot more religious zealots than you are.

[Rosstones]

"Crime in vancouver is terrible" -BZ

.... dude u need to visit NYC

[froedrick]

Yes, but that's only Canadian money. :-)

Seriously though--regarding your comment on the open mindedness of Canadians vs. Americans--there are plenty of open minded Americans, but we are stuck with a lot more religious zealots than you are.

Canadian money which is going to surpass the american dollar cause your president ruined most of your economy

[cundor]

Here in Belgium we have the same project. And last time I saw something on television about it, they said it really helped the heavy addicts getting a normal life again...I think it's :up:

[Arikel]

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=485292

Vancouver is testing a new program where they're actually supplying heroin to hardcore addicts.

Seems crazy, but I have a lot of respect for this Vancouver mayor. He was on the news last night and basically said that what they've been doing isn't working, so they have to try something different.

This would be political suicide in the States. Another example of how much more open-minded canadians are than us.

Besides the economical point of view that this measure might have this will surely reduce the crime and help giving better conditions to the addicts.
Since the reason for most of the crimes that heroin addicts commit is to get money to buy heroin i guess it will surely reduce crime town. Besides that point it will also reduce the number of people that get infected by aids because of needles, on the same way it is also a way to rehabilitate heroin addicts socialy wich might in the future mean that they can possibly get an easier reabilitation (its much easier to reabilitate a person who doesn't pass his life stealing cars and stuff in order to buy heroin) this measure will also get society and addicts more closer than before so the addicts wont feel themselfs discriminated the same way they would feel if they were forced to steal in order to sustain their addiction...
Heroin addiction is not just a problem of the person that consumes heroin its also a problem of society as a whole so iniciatives like this are always welcome since they tend to reduce the distance that separates heroin addicts from "normal citizens".

[Jeansi]

Drug users should be shot on site, with the exeption of Jason cus he's cool (and too weak to hurt anybody).

[bloodzombie]

.... dude u need to visit NYC

... dude you need to visit mexico city.

this isn't a cock measuring contest about what city has the most crime, I'm from detroit, so step down.

The difference, and maybe I should've been more specific, is that vancouver has one major problem that causes crime, if they could solve that one problem, crime would go down substantially.

[Troll King]

Drug users should be shot up on site

Fixed. Now it matches what Vancouver is doing.

[Ace]

"Crime in vancouver is terrible" -BZ

.... dude u need to visit NYC

Theres different types of crime in different types of the country (Canada) OUt west there seems to be a bog problem with drugs in Toronto guns and street gangs seem to be the problem.

[Jerome Scuggs]

they need to privatize drugs, sheesh

[Valerio.]

From the dutch tests:

Tussendoor kunnen deelnemers de kliniek bezoeken voor gesprekken met begeleiders. De verstrekking van heroïne staat namelijk niet op zich, maar maakt onderdeel uit van een omvattender behandelaanbod. Hulp bij lichamelijke problemen, hulp bij dagactiviteiten of werk, financieel beheer en soms ook hulp bij afkicken kunnen onderdeel zijn van dit aanbod. Het precieze behandelaanbod verschilt per deelnemer. Er is sprake van maatwerk.

Wich basicly say that the persons involved, the addicts, also come to the clinic for conversations. It does not involve just giving them heroine to use, they also get help with physical problems, help with daily activities or work, financial help if needed. And also help to quit using. Everyone who is a part of this project has it's own schedule and the help given is directed towards what the person in question needs. So it's not just general, it's tuned to the needs of the person.

Begin 2002 is de verstrekking geëvalueerd. Daaruit bleek dat de verstrekking leidt tot sterke gezondheidswinst voor de deelnemers, maar ook dat deelname leidt tot een sterke daling van criminele activiteiten. Zowel de verslaafden als de veiligheid in de stad hebben dus baat bij de verstrekking.

That says that after evaluation, it became appearant that the health of the persons involved improved, also there was a strong decline in criminal activities. So both the addicts as well as the city had benefits from the project.

In June of 2004, the goverment decided that the project will be continued in the 6 city's where it was already running, and there will be more of these clinics.

What also became appearant from these dutch projects was that substitutes for heroine, such as methadone, often do not work with these addicts and that they will often go back to heroine, and with that possibly criminal activities.

These clinics also make sure that overdosis happen less, and that people will behave better. Because conduct wich can't be tolerated in or around the clinic will be punished with being suspended or maybe even shut out completely. Wich will of course take away their assurance of getting a fix.

Val.

[Squeezer]

YAY, another US vs. Canada argument.

Wonder who'll win this time? -_-