vancouver's safe injection site - insite

[miss.myra]

for people who say can it should be gone and it's a shame we even have one, can anyone find statistical evidence that proves the way the city was handling the DTES before the introduction of inside that shows that drug users and residents of this city were better off without it?

Can anyone prove any trends with increased efforts of harm reduction resulting in more overdoses? More cases of diseases such as hepatitis or HIV ?

Remember that the DTES is far more than just main and hastings. The Strathcona neighbourhood is RIGHT THERE and families live there, there are schools, parks and playgrounds. Do you think those families feel better there are far fewer discarded syringes found in their neighbourhood as a result of this? Why do you think the residents of that area are in support of this? This isn't in place just to help drug addicts, this is also in place to improve the livability of the surrounding community.


Yes, Vancouver has a drug problem.

Yes, every major city has a drug problem.

Previously, increased policing and efforts to try to keep drug addicts and other undesirables out of public areas, especially ones that tourists frequent had resulted into pushing everything into one small area. The DTES has certainly not always been this way. Saturating the problem into one small area has actually made the problem worse over the years.

The way that the city was handling it before caused more problems than it was worth. This was really obvious to Vancouver residents who voted in mayor Larry Campbell in 2002 whose platform was based on his four pillars policy. What does that say?


Let all the junkies die? This isn't just about drug addicts. This is about making neighbourhoods safer for non drug users, too.

[fable]

Let all the junkies die? This isn't just about drug addicts. This is about making neighbourhoods safer for non drug users, too.

I think neighborhoods have more to fear in their government than they do drug users. But I appreciate the sentiment.

[miss.myra]

I don't really think they should be afraid of the drug users themselves, but it is concerning to find used needles in playgrounds or outside your front doorstep, especially if you have wee ones running around.

[sidekick]

^that's definitly a big issue. i've spotted needles a few times around the city and it's pretty horrifying. i'm pretty sure there are clean-up crews around the DTES that dispose of those needles. i remember seeing something about nurses that walked around administering clean needles, cleaning up old ones and giving medical advice and help where needed. i forget what they're called though, or if they still do it.

[b0ld]

my dad's friends daughter (who is 31) currently is trying to get her life back on track since she ha been a frequent lurker on the east side.... I asked her about this question a few days ago when they came over here... We were all having a discussion about what is going on and stuff and about harpers plans and shit. She ended up making point. She says that the majority of people that end up at the safe injection sites are people who are how can you say "beginners" onto a downhill path and that the safe injection site ends up being a haven so they can inject themselves without anyone seeing. And like she says.... these people are the people that can seek treatment on most likely recover other then one that has been doing it for years. Because as she put it ..... when's when your body is addicted to that drug the drug controls you and you don't care about yourself or where you inject or what not..... So in other words the safe injection sites almost seems like to premote you to shoot up.....

Another thing that she mentions and makes sense is the fact that there is alot of work to be done on the streets by cleaning up in both means. Believe it or not right now there is a private agency that is helping people on the east side get jobs. Currently she is doing some roofing at the moment thanks to that agency. She says that there are alot of people that want to get off the street and get a job but given the condition they are in being homeless and all who would hire them? Alot of them have voiced the oppurtunity of helping clean up the back ally's or the streets.... you know.... throwing the garbage away and stuff.... Proposals have been put through to the city with the help of the salvation army and other organizations since alot of people were interested in it.... It would benefit both the city and the people who would help out. From what she told me they have brought this to city hall 3 times and it has been rejected each attempt.... So right now there is just a private agency hooking up some people with jobs doing some labor stuff however its difficult for them to find employers willing help someone try and get on there feet....

[sidekick]

Originally Posted by fable

You sound like the stereotypical middle class west end living, Caucasian with a hard on for Libby Davis, and utterly no comprehension of what it means to be oppressed which is kind of fucked up considering you are a gay male.

wow, have you been reading my diary? just yesterday i baked a cake (vanilla, of course) and drove the H3 that my daddy bought me over to libby's house (we're tight, yo). we chatted about homeless people while flossing our teeth with thin strands of gold. i'm even growing a jack layton moustache, because he's just so dreamy.

you know me so well :)

[fable]

Originally Posted by sidekick

wow, have you been reading my diary? just yesterday i baked a cake (vanilla, of course) and drove the H3 that my daddy bought me over to libby's house (we're tight, yo). we chatted about homeless people while flossing our teeth with thin strands of gold. i'm even growing a jack layton moustache, because he's just so dreamy.

you know me so well :)

hahahaha! Ok, I had that one coming. Take that creativity you obviously have and apply it to how you get your information and how you get involved. Being 21 means fuck all. In Cuba their are heads of ministries that age, and over their political participation is a way of life - not a choice, but a necessity.

If you understand the problem (poverty, structural racism, social program cuts, capitalism/imperialism) and you know about the before mentioned realities historically (Indigenous oppression, Immigrant/refugee exploitation) and you do in fact know the current realities that poor/working people face today (im going to go on a leap of faith that you do) then you would understand the consequences of specific belief systems (yours or otherwise) today.

I have never doubted your intelligence overall, or your caring attitude Jake, I've just seen a thousand people like you, who seem to think the status quo left apparatuses will do some good, and seven years down the road turn into demoralized, cynical and depressed piles of flesh. Look to history mate, and see that any really significant change came as a result of massive grass roots mobilization. Not think tanks, not self-initiated government projects and surely not through pre-existing social democratic political parties.

ez
shak

[BongMan]

Bad things came from grass roots aswell



Hitler's Nazi party anyone??

[brokencrayon]

Originally Posted by sidekick

^that's definitly a big issue. i've spotted needles a few times around the city and it's pretty horrifying. i'm pretty sure there are clean-up crews around the DTES that dispose of those needles. i remember seeing something about nurses that walked around administering clean needles, cleaning up old ones and giving medical advice and help where needed. i forget what they're called though, or if they still do it.

A friend of mine's mum does that, or did (I haven't talked to this friend in over a year), but I am pretty sure it is still in action.

I think that makes a more than reasonable amount of difference alone to have people helping to keep the streets and parks cleaner from this sort of thing. Not to mention the harm reduction centres that have not only helped in making things in public cleaner but also have helped to clean up some of the junkies themselves. It may not be a huge difference to some people but the way I see it, a little can go a long way, it is better then doing nothing at all.

[SEAN!]

fable, you're just a dick.

[fable]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

fable, you're just a dick.

Were talking safe injection site, poverty, addiction, and public policy SEAN, we can discuss your diet in another post.

Nonetheless, lets drop the tit for tat, and go catch a brew sometime. Ive never doubted that you're really intelligent, and driven, and in case Ive never admitted to it, ive learned more than a thing or two from you.

ez
shak

[-evil-duerr-]

oh great , now where am i gonna go to shoot up my hasheesh?

[Senior]

Originally Posted by b0ld

my dad's friends daughter (who is 31) currently is trying to get her life back on track since she ha been a frequent lurker on the east side.... I asked her about this question a few days ago when they came over here... We were all having a discussion about what is going on and stuff and about harpers plans and shit. She ended up making point. She says that the majority of people that end up at the safe injection sites are people who are how can you say "beginners" onto a downhill path and that the safe injection site ends up being a haven so they can inject themselves without anyone seeing. And like she says.... these people are the people that can seek treatment on most likely recover other then one that has been doing it for years. Because as she put it ..... when's when your body is addicted to that drug the drug controls you and you don't care about yourself or where you inject or what not..... So in other words the safe injection sites almost seems like to premote you to shoot up.....

Another thing that she mentions and makes sense is the fact that there is alot of work to be done on the streets by cleaning up in both means. Believe it or not right now there is a private agency that is helping people on the east side get jobs. Currently she is doing some roofing at the moment thanks to that agency. She says that there are alot of people that want to get off the street and get a job but given the condition they are in being homeless and all who would hire them? Alot of them have voiced the oppurtunity of helping clean up the back ally's or the streets.... you know.... throwing the garbage away and stuff.... Proposals have been put through to the city with the help of the salvation army and other organizations since alot of people were interested in it.... It would benefit both the city and the people who would help out. From what she told me they have brought this to city hall 3 times and it has been rejected each attempt.... So right now there is just a private agency hooking up some people with jobs doing some labor stuff however its difficult for them to find employers willing help someone try and get on there feet....

While I think it's good people are talking about this issue I do have a major criticism of your comments. They are completely useless outside of a larger context and can be dismissed just as easily as the anecdotes abouts killing every junkie. "Harm reduction is just for newbs..." next time you join that conversation maybe you could relate some of the broader based realities of how Insite saves lives and saves taxpayers money? Maybe you could also take a bit of time to look into approaches that other cities have taken around the World? Amsterdam anyone?

[b0ld]

Originally Posted by Senior

While I think it's good people are talking about this issue I do have a major criticism of your comments. They are completely useless outside of a larger context and can be dismissed just as easily as the anecdotes abouts killing every junkie. "Harm reduction is just for newbs..." next time you join that conversation maybe you could relate some of the broader based realities of how Insite saves lives and saves taxpayers money? Maybe you could also take a bit of time to look into approaches that other cities have taken around the World? Amsterdam anyone?

Ok well dude listen...... this is the views and information based on a person who knows what the east side about because she was a zombie amongst them. Not my prespective....

[Senior]

Originally Posted by b0ld

Ok well dude listen...... this is the views and information based on a person who knows what the east side about because she was a zombie amongst them. Not my prespective....

How is this relevant to a broader based discussion on the merits of Insite specifically and harm reduction principles in general? Oh wait it's not...

[Chewy]

take all the crackers out back, shoot them all , throw them away,

they are useless, they have no meaning in our society,

When the spca has a dog or cat that nobody wants then it gets put down.

IN my opinion all the hoes and junkies are things that nobody wants, so put them down.

At some point in the future this will happen, it may not be in 5 years or it may not be in 10 but eventually there will be to many people for this planet and we will have to dispose of all the useless crap that we dont need. ie hoes and junkies.

[Senior]

Originally Posted by Chewy

take all the crackers out back, shoot them all , throw them away,

they are useless, they have no meaning in our society,

When the spca has a dog or cat that nobody wants then it gets put down.

IN my opinion all the hoes and junkies are things that nobody wants, so put them down.

At some point in the future this will happen, it may not be in 5 years or it may not be in 10 but eventually there will be to many people for this planet and we will have to dispose of all the useless crap that we dont need. ie hoes and junkies.

So who do we kill first, your Mom or your Sister?

[Grapes]

^ Ooh.

Harper's government is continuing with the silent treatment. Their official statement is that they're considering all the data available to them... the problem is, I'm guessing what they're considering is not whether or not Insite has been valuable/successful to the community (as the overwhelming evidence would suggest) but rather whether or not they can get away with shutting it down without hurting their chances of re-election.

[Senior]

Good news for those in support of this,

http://www.cjob.com/news/index.aspx?..../n090151A.xml

[SEAN!]

Originally Posted by Senior

Good news for those in support of this,

http://www.cjob.com/news/index.aspx?..../n090151A.xml

they dont want it to be an election issuse so i guess their going to wait until they get elected into a majority before they shut it down.

[Senior]

Originally Posted by SEAN!

they dont want it to be an election issuse so i guess their going to wait until they get elected into a majority before they shut it down.

You think they could win a majority? Hard to say but I think not. In the least it's a small victory for now.

[Grapes]

You know what that means people...

Insite = Election issue!

As if you didn't have enough reasons to vote against that douche bag.

[sidekick]

Originally Posted by Senior

You think they could win a majority? Hard to say but I think not. In the least it's a small victory for now.

i think they could win a majority. it's not that much of a far-fetched idea.

[esoter1c]

Originally Posted by Grapes

You know what that means people...

Insite = Election issue!

As if you didn't have enough reasons to vote against that douche bag.

No ones gonna give a shit about junkies after these next "Terra attacks".