OPIOID CRISIS

I Live in Vancouver, East side. The drug problem here is at epidemic proportions. I look out my window at day or night and I see people doing drugs non-stop. Its not just the fact that people do drugs. I believe we should have ultimate freedom over what we do with ourselves as long as it doesn't harm others. What eats me up is the fact that the drugs that are out on the street being sold are full of poison and people are dying at a rate of 4-5 people a day here alone. Yet the government in all its false promises and moral platitudes does nothing. These people are someones brother, sister, mother, father, son and daughters. They are dying. In fact more people died last year in my province than all the Canadian soldiers that have died since 1991. In a single year!!

COST TO THE SYSTEM

The annual cost of one drug addict to the mental and health system is somewhere around 50-60,000$ which is staggering. Add up infections, poor diet, impurities in the drugs that cause major stays in our hospitals. Things like endocarditis, staff infections plus a myriad of other infections due to the cut that these drug dealers put in there drugs to make more money off them. In fact I remember hearing a story that proved true that drugs dealer were using chicken growth hormone because of its identical looking qualities to speed/meth. The cost of emergency visits, overdoses, coroner services, etc. It is rediculously expensive to keep addicts using drugs provided by these parasites that prey on someones disease.

EVIDENCE BASED TREATMENTS

It is already proven though the study (salome) and (naomi) before it that if you take addicts hooked to heroin and provide them with a clean supply of pharmaceutical grade medications that almost all the costs associated with using drugs on the street bought from street dealers. check out the study {http://www.providencehealthcare.org/salome/) this link can provide you with far more information about this form of evidence based treatments. The fact is that this population is highly prejudiced against by most of society stating"its a moral/ willpower problem". I can assure you it is not. Who would seriously choose a life of addiction over a life of choice and having a place to live, food to eat, clothing that is appropriate for the conditions. The governments of the world need to stop virtue posturing and actually tackle this peoblem with more than handcuffs and complete abstinence. The running success rate of AA is 5-8%, that is horrible. that is not a success. We need to be more progressive in our approach, like the saying goes "an ounce of prevention, is worth a pound of cure"

This is just one of many issues that burn me but this one is especially brutal. We need to get off out perverbial high Horse and start acting like a family of humans that deeply care for each other.

God Bless you all.

Repost of property of Steve Black