It was a Memo to Nurses in the Northern Health Region that, when I heard about, I doubted its veracity.
“The memo, sent to staff at the G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital in Quesnel on July 7, 2023, says that in light of the province’s decriminalization policy — which applies to anyone in possession of 2.5 grams or less of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine or MDMA — “staff should not be searching a patient’s personal belongings and taking away or holding onto their substances,” the Vancouver Sun reported April 3.
““Patients can use substances while in hospital in their rooms,” the memo stated.
Well, I thought, possessing drugs in hospital is one thing; surely using would be quite another.
““There are reports of meth being smoked in a unit just hours after the birth of a newborn baby,” BC United health critic Shirley Bond told the Legislature.
“The party heard from an Island Health nurse who returned to work after maternity leave and was exposed to smoke from illicit drugs, said B.C. United addictions critic Elenore Sturko. The exposure was so severe, she needed emergency care and was advised to stop breast feeding her infant, The Sun story added.
What??? Drugs …including HARD drugs … being used in BC Hospitals? (And you thought “using” in a Tim Horton’s was bad enough!)
“How many more nurses have to be put at risk and infants exposed to illicit hard drugs in our hospitals before the premier puts an end to this reckless decriminalization experiment?, Bond wondered.”
And believe it or not, under the NDP government’s “bleeding heart” philosophy and policies towards druggies, it’s not only drugs that nurses/staff have been instructed to allow.
“Staff DO NOT remove personal items from the patient’s room, even if there is a knife or something considered as a weapon under (four inches) long,” the memo continued, according to The Sun.
You can read the entire Sun story here: https://vancouversun.com/news/leaked-northern-health-memo-tells-nurses-not-to-confiscate-drugs-or-weapons-from-patients.
How would YOU like to share a hospital ward (or even floor?) with another patient who sneaks into the bathroom for a quick hit of meth or fentanyl … and has a knife in the side table?
Better not make him or her mad!
“Health Minister Adrian Dix mentioned only that health worker safety “is a singular priority of all of us” and that his government had hired 320 “relational security officers” to work at B.C. hospitals,” The National Post reported.
What good is that? Does Dix REALLY believe these 320 new security staff will do any more than step in AFTER a serious or fatal drugs/knifing incident occurs? And then, spend days filling out paperwork.
Absolutely ridiculous! (Just think, if the government was not so hands-off on drugs and weapons, where else in hospitals the money spent on those 320 additional security staff could better be used!)
“Jennifer Whiteside, the Minister of Mental Health and Addictions, defended B.C.’s ongoing decriminalization experiment by saying “it was never intended … to promote unfettered public drug use.”
She should remember that expression: the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
“The B.C. Nurses’ Union says illicit drug use is widespread in hospitals, and it’s putting nurses and patients at risk,” The Sun told its readers.
“Nurses who spoke to Postmedia News said people often use illicit drugs in bathrooms and even in shared rooms next to other patients. Nurses don’t know if they’re walking into a cloud of drug smoke until they’re hit with the acrid smell that often triggers headaches and dizziness.”
And nurses would know … apparently more than the Health Minister, Mental Health and Addictions Minister or the Premier.
In fact, problems with drug use in hospitals have now been reported throughout BC. Read where: https://vancouversun.com/news/nurses-speak-out-about-consequences-of-drug-use-in-hospitals.
And thanks to the NDP‘s “bleeding heart“ policies, it’s not just in hospital where may now find yourself at increased danger.
Just getting there may be a challenge, because since the growth of opioid use in BC, under the NDP’s new policies, ambulances are almost going non-stop each day just dealing with overdoses.
So if YOU have a heart attack or stroke, don’t be surprised if the ambulance is delayed or doesn’t show up, because so many are tied up now dealing with drug use problems.
And as a corollary of the government’s “bleeding heart” drug policies, the numbers of drug-crazed-associated assaults and attacks on innocent civilians have made streets in many communities much more scary and more dangerous, and not just after dark.
Also on this blog, I have pointed out numerous times how the NDP’s “bleeding heart” social policies, along with a wacko far left radical city hall, completely destroyed Vancouver’s Granville Street, from Smyth down to Drake Street.
The BC government bought up several tourist class hotels in the area, filled them with homeless, druggies, and the mentally ill … and then, of course, added a needle exchange and several social service and health facilities right nearby to service these clientele.
It didn’t take long until the shoppers were gone, the diners stayed away, and many of the Granville businesses in that strip folded up …
All of them victims of the NDP’s “bleeding heart” devotion to the poorest among us, the mentally ill and the drug users … turning to the rest of us when it’s time to raise money.
Harv Oberfeld
(Follow @harveyoberfeld on “X” for FREE First Alerts to news postings on the Blog.)
Madness now rules the land and the NDP are desperately trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in the next provincial election.
The NDP, in throws of being of being an antisemitic politcal party is now the party of drug dealers.
Either Eby does not give a damn or he has given up with the drug issue and hopes the addicts will all die of overdoses, thus ending the problem.
If I were Eby and Dix, I would make damn sure that hospitals are working and Emergency rooms are open across the province. My last experience in the Emergency was a not funny comedy of errors, trying to secure a wheelchair to move a boy with a ruptured Achilles to the Emerge. He could not walk and no wheelchair could be found and was advises to call 911 and get an ambulace to take my son from the car 40 feet to the Emergency Dept.!
Saner heads prevailed and a wheelchair magically appeared but once my son was admitted, they wanted the chair back, leaving him to painfully hop. Again, saner heads prevailed when I said “you get him out of the chair and I will not be responsible for further injury.”
Unbelievable!
But, now this!!!!
I am sorry because I am now of the opinion that the NDP are unfit to run this province and have passed the toxic level and now are radio active like Falcon’s United.
As my father said, after serving in the RCN during WW2 and seeing snafu’s all over the place; “When you have idiots in charge, do not be surprised at the results.”
(Response: I have previously indicated on this blog that I have voted NDP in the past, both provincially and federally, but I don’t think the party as it exists today is anything close to what it used to be: Tommy Douglas, Ed Broadbent, Dave Barrett would barely recognize it. The party used to champion the majority working class’ interests. Today it seems to focus solely on those at the bottom of the pyramid … and just uses the middle class as a source of funds,squeezing them more and more and more. Believe it or not, people living in Toronto or Montreal or dozens of other Canadian cities can still walk down their streets and lanes ( even at night) without fearing being attacked; businesses don’t have to keep their goods behind screens, their front doors locked or replace their expensive front windows repeatedly each year; and you can certainly go to hospital as a patient or visitor without packing a knife in case you may need it for self-defence against a crazed druggie! h.o)
Nailed it again Harv!!!
(Response: Thanks. The media have reported all these problems individually, but no one seems to have added them all up into an overall picture. The NDP government is fortunate I am retired: I would definitely have added up all these “bleeding heart” failures and gone after Eby and his cabinet ministers on this. h.o)
The situation in BC is truly shocking. It completely defies common sense and is so dystopian. It’s hard to believe it’s actually real and truly sounds like it has to be from a movie.
The public has to demand change. It’s clear that the current policies are not working. Any politician who says otherwise is delusional.
(Response: I used to see myself as a kind of “bleeding heart” … have always had great sympathy for the minority of very poor people, struggling seniors, physically and mentally challenged and even druggies afflicted by that terrible disease. But the majority has rights too … to be safe walking the streets, to be able to operate businesses without having to keep their front door locked … or replacing their front windows every few weeks, or to be able to be admitted to hospital when seriously ill, without being terrified that the druggie sharing the ward might shoot or smoke up on hard drugs and then go crazy with a knife!!! This is just wacko! The NDP bleeding hearts have gone too far. h.o.)
Based on current polling numbers this government would be elected again in a landslide. So one must assume all these voters are ok with this.
(Response: A few months ago, I believed the same thing. But in politics, a week can be a long time, a month a very long time … and I sense, with the rising fortunes of the BC Conservatives, the mood of the electorate is changing. And the revelation that drug use and carrying knives in hospitals is now ok … can’t help. I suspect Eby and the NDP aren’t sleeping as comfortably as they once did. h.o)
Harvey unless the Conservatives and United parties get together “United Conservatives?” under a more electable leader like mayor Brad West the NDP will survive. And given the billions of our money Eby is giving away he will buy a lot of votes.
Another NDP will further sink BC into a have not province with productivity to GDP falling even further than I think is already 48th out of 60 for Canada / US provinces and states.
I think if he see’s his numbers slide he will quickly call an early election.
(Response: I sense Brad West has political ambitions beyond mayor of Port Coquitlam, and NW’s Mike Smyth seems to give him lots of air time. I agree with you: West leading a United/Conservative coalition could go far … but I’m not sure there’s enough time for all that to come together before the net election. h.o.)
Just when you think you’ve heard or seen it all, we have this. Good lord.
I’m not sure my little experience fits into this conversation but here it is.
Last fall I made an early morning visit to St.Paul’s emergency for an urgent medical situation. I was asked by the security person at the entrance if I was carrying a knife or weapon. I can’t recall which, but I do remember being shocked by the question. I am a senior and never dress shabbily or look contemptible. I let it go and had forgotten about it until now.
I’m just wondering if this is now considered a violation of a person’s civil rights by asking about weapons or not allowing them to smoke illicit drugs.
Regardless, if you can’t feel safe and secure in a hospital where you are most vulnerable, then we have a serious problem. Just think of the strict anti-smoking laws we have but we now allow smoking up in a hospital? It makes no sense.
I know who I will vote for come election time. It’s time to get rid of Eby and the NDP. This is beyond ridiculous.
(Response: You raise a great point: when I was in St Paul’s for 29 days in 2018, I could not smoke my pipe anywhere at all. And, if re-admitted today, still could not: but the three others in my ward room would not be evicted or arrested, even if they shoot or smoke up crack or meth!!! Clearly NDP ideology today trumps common sense! h.o)
Interesting that for years and years smokers are shamed for smoking but using of drugs needs to be destigmatized. How does that make any sense?
Here is a comment from someone who turned their life around. Certainly not in alignment with the NPD ideology.
You can turn it around.
You don’t change until the pain to remain the same is greater than the pain it takes to change.
Thats what it takes. (Jelly Roll)
(Response: And it’s not just hospitals: I believe under the thinking rational of the current NDP, I should get a ticket if I smoke my pipe in the doorway of any building, or even close by, or in a park or sitting on a log on the beach well away from anyone, but if I shoot up or smoke crack in any of those spots, it’s okay!! This is NUTS! h.o)
Oregon in full reverse
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/03/12/drug-decriminalization-law-reversed-oregon/72871244007/
(Response: Oregon is truly progressive: willing to try and willing to stop if the experiment proves unsuccessful. The BC NDP is just ideological: full steam ahead with social experiments, with no going back, even when it fails. h.o.)
Eby is a backstabber to all contributing law abiding people and in BC. He was the Pivot lawyer who I think helped drug criminality and illicit drug use and abuse have free reign in Vancouver. Maybe Dix and Eby have been walking through to many clouds of pot and drug haze. I would also add, what kind of Public Safety Minister is Mike Farnworth anyhow. What the heck is he really ? A Public Safety Minister ? These three are really something. I can’t believe I worked hard and contributed to.my country with my taxes for that. Kind of like the waste of good money for our Prime Minister.
(Response: Judging by their actions, they seem to believe they are trying to do a great job for their “base” … the poor, homeless, druggies, social activists, environmentalists, First Nations … and, lately, anti-Israel extremists and anti-Semites too. The NDP’s easy tolerance for hard drugs and opiate use … has actually seen the number of deaths go UP!!! Taxation of the middle class is worse than ever … but heaven help you if you need an ambulance in an emergency; post secondary educational institutions have become ideological cesspools of intolerance and intimidation; and their mistreatment and dismissive reaction to Selena Robinson’s experiences in caucus reeks of that anti-Semitic prejudice that has united the far left with the extreme right. Certainly no longer the party that brought “the people” together, arm in arm. h.o)
Well said.
If you fall into an uncovered manhole somewhere in Mexico and try to sue the city they’ll laugh at you. In BC you would get counter-sued for misnaming the “equipment access opening”
I hope there will be a Conservative candidate running in my riding.
(Response: I believe an increasing number of people in urban areas (NDP traditional strongholds) are now thinking like you. h.o)
What struck me Harvey was the memo was sent July 7 2023, but not leaked to the press until April 3 2024, so the on paper problem has been known about for 9 months, obviously longer if the info. has to be compiled to the point where something had to be said and recorded.
If Northern Health put this out, who else was this memo and information shared with, what discussions if any occurred between the various health authorities and up the food chain to the ministry and Dix on this subject in the interim. ?
Given what we are finding out in dribs and drabs re: St Paul’s Hospital, organized crime trafficking prescription supplied dugs etc., I can only conclude the NDP have been sitting on this info. hoping it didn’t t come to light making them look even worse than they already do (with the suckers footing the bill for all this mayhem), by carrying on this debacle of giving junkies what they want when they want it.
The response so far, hire 320 security guards for hospitals and organize a “task force” to look into drug use in hospitals. Good grief.!!
(Response: Bleeding heart ideologues seem to find it impossible to ever admit their ideas were wrong: and the homeless/druggies/mentally ill have played them like a fiddle. They now rule Granville Street (a major private redevelopment was just cancelled!); intimidate residents of Yaletown, the West End, Davie, Robson, Crab Park and the violence is spreading beyond; hospitals have become more unsafe … for patients and staff; also tying up so much ambulance services that others lives are now in danger… and yet, the NDP presses on, refuses to admit they got a lot wrong. And they still lead the polls! LOL! h.o)
The NDP, the politcal party from planet Koosbane.
What the NDP have morphed into is Vision(less) Vancouver Provincial, with David Eby, poster boy for land speculators and land developers.
That whirring sound, you hear is Dave Barret spinning in his grave.
The NDP are doing everything wrong for the province, but everything right for those who make huge profits from land rushes.
The drug issue has been so mishandled by the NDP, that one would suspect that the drug dealers support this government.
It is not just hospitals where open drug consumption is happening, also on public transit and why many elderly people feel threatened taking transit.
In fact the NDP’s treating of the elderly in this province boarders on “elder abuse”.
I am an old lefty, but I washed my hands of the NDP with Glen Clarks flip-flop from LRT to SkyTrain for what we now call the Millennium Line. In hindsight there was absolutely no business case that would support this and one wonders if “success fees” were involved as they were with Bombardier and SNC in Korea and Malaysia (lots of reporting of that in the “Mop and Pale”, but nary a mention here).
What Eby’s misguide and downright daft polices concerning drugs has done is now brought fear into the equation. Fear of going to the hospital, fear of taking transit, fear of the streets.
Eby does not care as he has an agenda and it ain’t good for BC, just a Gordon Campbell clone, nothing more.The out of control drug issue is just the beginning.
As for politics, because of my transit endeavors, I do get some inside info and I have been told some “tittle-tattle” that recent polling is very bad news for Falcon and there maybe a push to unite the two parties by July. It seems the BC United fundraising has hit a wall as the “bets” are being placed elsewhere.
Nuff said.
(Response: I barely recognize the NDP from what I voted for under Blakeny and Broadbent and Barrett and Harcourt, even Clark: now it comes across to me much more radically and ideologically paralysed like Stalin, Mao, Castro and Corbyn … no longer for me, despite all my expressed criticisms of Gordon Campbell, Christy Clark, Trudeau, Harper, Singh etc. We really need a parties and leaders at all levels who focus on the vast majority: working, tax-paying middle class contributors to society … not the loudest agitators, activist “takers” and those who inflict only damage, violence, hate and disrespect. h.o.)
You know what might be fun? Discussing the actual problem instead of politicizing it.
We don’t discuss the pros and cons of a ceasefire. We accuse Trudeau of sacrificing Jewish lives for the sake of Muslim votes. We don’t discuss the pros and cons of the carbon tax. We accuse Eby of arrogance and not caring about taxpayers Same applies here.
I don’t have a whole lot of answers and I am not going to go into detail on why I have the opinions I do but let’s see.
Is decriminalization of small amounts of illicit drugs a good or bad thing?
Personally, I think decriminalization is a good thing.
Should illicit drug use be allowed in public spaces.
No. A couple of years ago didn’t the NDP make some changes that said drug use had to take place at least so many meters from schools etc. I remember making a comment on this blog to the effect if someone is so desperately in need of a fix that they can’t find a more appropriate site than a park or doorway then they need help. I am not saying arrest them and put them in jail but there has to be some place for the police to take these people that is safer for them and for the public. Maybe some place that can offer help.
Should there be illicit drug use and weapons in the hospital?
Weapons? Of course not.
Drug use? Dicier. My understanding is that there is a designated spot in St. Paul’s – somewhere on the fourth floor? – where addicts can use. I don’t like it but what are we supposed to do with addicts who are hospitalized?
And as I understand it, the policies in place are not necessarily the issue. It is the enforcement of those policies. So if there is no policy about weapons in the hospital, make one although I think there already is a no weapons policy. But don’t (and I think this is where the memo for me was confusing) make nurses be responsible for taking them away. That is what I thought the memo was saying. I don’t want a nurse trying to take a weapon away from a someone and running the risk of being stabbed and possibly killed. Law enforcement is better equipped to deal with those situations.
I am curious about how you and others feel about this topic, politics aside.
(Response: It’s too late to “discuss” policy after the decision is done and it is implemented. The discussions and consultations should take place before the decision, but too often when dealing with ideologues (left or right) at any level (municipal, regional, provincial, federal or park board) those discussions are a farce: decisions have already been made and not even sustained bad experiences, once implemented, will make the devoted change their minds …. so we throw them out! And try again … h.o)
How can you discuss a problem, when the government refuses to talk?
Sadly, everything is politicized, right down to the druggies playing Russian Roulette with Fentanyl laden drugs.
The government has blundered with the drug policy and now seem hapless in doing anything to rectify it.
Decriminalizing drugs means no jail sentences having illicit drugs, it does not mean you can these drugs in public.
Eby’s NDP seem completely aloof to the problem, just like the housing issue which they are making worse by their policy of densification. Property values go up, as to taxes (may be the NDP love the windfall tax increases), rents and leases.
Right now in my little burg, there are pensioners who are forgoing food to pay rent and worse, their very accommodations are being torn down for new, higher, larger, apartments with small er units, still at prices they cannot afford.
I guess Eby’s, as well MLA’s large annual incomes certainly have made them deaf to the poor. Did you know that the Cabinet Secretary & Deputy to the Premier, makes $396K annually or about $216 an hour?
https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/careers-myhr/all-employees/pay-benefits/salaries/salarylookuptool/management/cabinet-secretary-deputy-to-premier.
Government has lost touch with the common folk, as the common folk can’t eat tax credits or one time pre election bribes.
(Response: The NDP government is showing all the signs of political administrations that have been around too long … which is quite amusing, considering Eby has never even sought a public mandate for his Premiership or policies! But the signs of administrative old age are all there: arrogance, deaf to real consultations/warnings/appeals, blind to average citizens’ struggles and plight, adding tax/fee increase after tax/fee increase … catering only to their “base’ … and to hell with any evidence that shows how bad things are getting for others. Hard for me to imagine these days what another four years of this … or worse … will do to urban areas, families, seniors living struggles … and safety! h.o)
With the upcoming election, the NDP may get the most votes, but add the votes of thc Conservatives with the United and one could end up with a different government with the NDP out. But who would lead? Neither leader of those two don’t get my vote.
We have to do something….
Good blog HO
(Response: Wouldn’t it be a hoot if the Conservatives and BC United did the same as the NDP/Greens did under Horgan? But you’re right: who would lead? Maybe whichever leader receives the least votes could yield? Or better yet, resign and thus let Brad West run for the leader’s job … and then take over/serve without any need to seek a public mandate … ie just like Eby!!! 🙂 🙂 h.o)
Is this what it comes down to? Nurses, hospital staff, patients at risk just trying to do their jobs or recover from an ailment. Elderly people being threatened on public transit. I find myself checking over my shoulder when I walk down the street in broad daylight if I feel someone is following too close to me.
As Gilbert mentioned this defies common sense. Does David Eby or Adrian Dix believe this is normal behavior? This is not the average or standard type behavior and not the way people should act in public, let alone in a hospital.
I’m wondering what the percentage of people doing hard drugs or carrying weapons as part of their addictions are in relation to the rest of the population. I’m guessing it’s a relatively small number. It’s almost like everyone else should cater to them and accept their terms because it’s not their fault. It may be an illness and not really their fault, but that doesn’t make it right.
As far as I know security staff are trained to observe and report. They do not carry weapons or have any power to arrest. Three hundred twenty people do what any person can do by just calling the police. Even homeless people have cell phones these days. I’ve seen it. Bureaucrats never seem to worry about costs when they have never ending resources like us, the tax payers, funding their projects.
If the Conservatives or BC United, alone or as a coalition could not just promise but act to resolve these problems then it’s quite possible they could get themselves elected. I’m sure it’s not only the people who write or read this blog that would be happy to see this resolved.
(Response: Under the “bleeding hearts” NDP ideologues/policies, all the tails in BC are now wagging the dogs: whether it’s the homeless, druggies, crazies taking over/destroying urban downtown shopping/dining/entertainment areas or making people feel unsafe in their own once-comfortable residential areas, or putting enormous additional stresses on emergency ambulance services so much so that even people suffering a stroke can’t get help or, now revealed, making even hospitals more scary and potentially even more dangerous places to be for those fighting against critical illnesses … as well as staff and visitors.
Harvey, your response “it is too late to discuss” is disappointing. Of course we can discuss it. Unless, the purpose of your current blog is to just vent against the government.
Here is what I mean.
“When will the premier put the safety of nurses and other patients first and end his dangerous decriminalization experiment?” Bond later asked.”
I will assume here that should the United Party form government, this “dangerous decriminalization experiment” will end.
So my question: Do you agree with Shirley Bond to end the policy or do you agree with the head of the nurses union.
“As nurses, we absolutely support harm reduction and we also believe that decriminalization is important. Persons with substance use disorders are better served in a health-care setting than a criminal setting,” Gear told CBC News.
“There is a caveat — harm reduction does not mean that reducing harm for the substance user should create harm for the care provider or for other patients,” she added.”
The caveat is important. How do you implement the policy without putting hospital workers at risk. And that is also worth discussing.
(Response: Of course, we… as citizens in a free country … can discuss government decisions, policies and programs at any time, all day long.
My point is that government should hold the discussions before they make decisions and impose them on the citizenry… especially when it comes to potentially endangering the health and even lives of patients, staff, and visitors in hospitals! Clearly, judging by all the secrecy and the fact that it took a leaked memo to make these latest “bleeding heart” ridiculous rules public, the NDP government did not do that. Looks to me like, once again, radical ideology triumphed over the common public interest… and public safety!
As for your question: I support Bond’s position … end the NDP “experiment”. It encapsulates my point: the current NDP government/party cares only for the least among us (homeless, druggies, crazies) but has ignored … even placed at risk the majority. It’s not safe to walk Vancouver streets (not just downtown eastside, but Granville Street, Yaletown, Kitsilano, West End etc … even during the day and now you cant get away from the drug crazed (and armed)even in hospitals! Outrageous! (Except to the NDP bleeding hearts!) h.o)
The 2% who instinctively bitch & complain about their own misfortune have taken over the top spot with the BC NDP. The concept of improving one self rather than expecting endless aid efforts has completely vanished.
I’ve traveled quite a bit throughout my years, only twice have I witnessed urban scourge like today’s downtown Vancouver, the other place was 1970’s New York City. Open drug use, nothing approaching “safe” neighborhoods, thugs posing, open drug merchandising & a sense that no normal folks would be there after dark.
BC’s health care has been a dumpster fire for over a decade, 6&1/2 years of caring for my wife during her cancer battle was as eye opening as it was disconcerting on most organizational levels. Prehistoric computers, missing files, disgusting (absentee) cleanliness, rude staff, BCAS waiting hours to admit patients, sleeping nurses while on duty, far too many admin types who make great salaries but do nothing medical, increasing parking fees with less available parking stalls, gauntlet of speeding bicycles on 10th ave past the BCCA, heaved sidewalks for walker & wheelchair patients to navigate safely, and actually many other smaller items which I’ll omit for brevity.
What is the ratio of non-frontline medical staff in comparison to folks who actually practice medicine? I’m willing to bet the ranks of administration folks are far too bloated and from my seat appear to be growing exponentially. Medical records are a mess, many times I had to go from one appointment back to a location of a prior appointment to get paperwork so the next physician could see the charts etc. from some other doctor. Is this a well thought out medical file management system? Every worker has a vastly superior computing device in their phone compared to the antique computers used in medicine in BC. Waiting for the inevitable mess whenever the bureaucrats are unleashed to procure a new computing system.
A friend’s sister is a RN, she has been a functional heroin addict for over 3 decades, I suppose she can now shoot up at work in the open?
The pandemic finally stopped the practice of BCNU members working at private & govt. institutions simultaneously, this in my experience is the root cause of the sleeping nurses I saw in our hospice system. I wonder how long that change will last or has lasted? Do you want a nurse who’s working 16 hrs/day to be administering your medications?
Now addicts can shoot up, smoke meth & ruin the sanctity of hospitals???
Urban decay is the end result of the BC NDP’s reign, that is a fact most seem to ignore. This govt. is elected mostly from urban ridings, when will the urban voters awake and vote to toss these virtue signalling, overspending and morally bankrupt imposters out so we can actually have an efficient government? The former BC Liberal party had many bites at the apple, most of which seem rather poisonous in retrospect. Not holding my breath, the smarmy media, dense urban voters and govt. employees seem to eclipse common sense at every opportunity.
(Response: There’s a difference between compassion … and just being used. The old NDP , and those of us who voted for them, were progressives in the true sense: we saw the need for greater social, racial, ethnic and economic equality and supported NDP candidates who took it on. But NEVER did we imagine the NDP would be taken over by ideologically-blind extreme “bleeding hearts” … willing to cater almost exclusively to homeless (from anywhere in the world), druggies and recidivist violent mental cases … even if it meant destroying downtown commercial/dining/entertainment areas, making surrounding residential areas unsafe, cutting/denying health services to taxpaying working or retired British Columbians … and, now, even placing patients, staff and visitors in greater danger by allowing hard drug use and even carrying knives in hospitals! This NUTS!!! Not even political correctness gone awry … just NUTS!! h.o)
I’m afraid Eby and his bleeding heart extremist crazies have to go. This takes the cake. How dare these pathetic lunatics allow this drug abuse and criminality into our hospitals. Our hospitals for Christ sake. Do they have no moral compass at all. Nothing sacred to these wild human animals anymore or respect and common decency. Everyone I know is disgusted with this bunch even if some are NDP. Not anymore though. As I said this takes the cake.
(Response: There is no one s blind as those who refuse to see! The BC NDP are so blinded by extreme “wokeism” and extreme left ideology that no one who is on drugs is ever to be held responsible anymore for their own actions/situation: blame EVERYONE else … upbringing, parents, society, schools, social workers, government, etc. … NEVER the drug user/abuser. The bleeding hearts thought legalizing open possession/use of hard drugs would destigmatize drug users and make it easier for them to seek help, reducing drug use. That simply did not happen: more are openly using hard drugs now; more are sicker now; more are dying now. At least, Oregon’s politicians saw the results were NOT good and ended their complicity in making things worse: but in BC, it looks like the NDP is willing to see more use and more die, even in hospitals, rather than admit their open drug use policy was tragically wrong and must be stopped … for the good of the addicts themselves. How selfish and pathetic! h.o)
You realize that saying that you support Bond’s position because “the current NDP government cares only for the least among us … and places at risk the majority” really isn’t a reason for opposing the decriminalization experiment. How about I say I disagree with Bond because she is a right wing ideologue who cares nothing about the sufferings of others. Attacking someone is not the same as attacking their ideas.
As DMJ pointed out “Decriminalizing drugs means no jail sentences having illicit drugs, it does not mean you can use these drugs in public.”
So let’s actually discuss. Is decriminalizing small amounts of illicit drugs sound policy. Its purpose is to turn drug use into a health issue rather than a legal one. Do you disagree with that?
If not, then we have to ensure that the policy is clear. You may think I am a bleeding heart (and there is nothing wrong with bleeding hearts by the way as much as you make it sound bad) but I agree with DMJ. I not only don’t want to see open drug use in a hospital, I don’t want to see open drug use anywhere. I will repeat myself: If someone is so desperate for a fix and they can’t find another place to use than open public areas, then law enforcement has every right to take them some place else, preferably some place where they can be offered help.
As for hospitals. It is absurd that we are talking about weapons in the hospital or patients and medical staff inhaling smoke from illicit drugs. But I don’t think that was ever the intent. Dix has said that weapons are not allowed and that drug use is restricted to certain areas. So those rules have to be clear and hospital staff have to have some kind of support (security) to ensure that those rules can be enforced. The caveat from the nurses union is right. Decreasing harm for addicts at the expense of increasing harm for medical staff is not an option. So the trick is finding that balance.
To be clear, I am no expert here. I can easily be swayed. But I have yet to see an actual argument against the policy. Yes there have been some problems. Probably every policy has problems at the beginning. But if those problems can be rectified isn’t the policy worth continuing.
(Response: DMJ is correct … and so are you … theoretically, when you write “Decriminalizing drugs means no jail sentences having illicit drugs, it does not mean you can use these drugs in public.” Theoretically. However, the title of this Blog is Keeping it Real … and in reality, under the NDP government’s lax enforcement policies through the AG and Crown Counsels’ offices, anyone CAN use hard drugs in full public view almost anywhere (not just Hastings Street, but Granville, Yaletown, Robson or Davie street …even the little plaza on Bute at Davie) without fear that police will even stop their car, let alone arrest any user or write a citation. About the only place you’ll be interfered with … and then, likely only to be told to move along … is close to schools or playgrounds. That is unacceptable! It’s typical policy under the current NDP … placing the interests and convenience of druggies ahead of neighbourhoods, businesses, even the fears/safety/security feelings of people just walking by, going shopping or kids going to school. I do agree it is a health issue, but that alone is no license to allow those who are high or wildly on a binge to disrupt, frighten or threaten the safety of everyone else … except under bleeding heart NDPers, who give the druggies a Free Pass to do almost anything! h.o.)
Just before I leave to work (yes this almost 69 pensioner needs to work to make ends meet) that just a few nights ago, a doctor was shot in the face by a drug dealer arguing with another drug dealer in what could be called the better part of downtown Vancouver.
The response by the government beyond the “thoughts and prayers” nonsense is almost nonexistent.
Makes me wonder, “are the provincial drug dealers actual supporters of the NDP?”, because the inaction by the government is so loud that I believe a lot more people are taking notice of this.
To end this, a restaurant was fined $7K because they had the temerity to sell a glass a beer to someone underage. God help us with this one and if this is the best Eby and his gang of antisemitic do nothings can do, they all should “take a long walk in the snow and consider their futures.”
Lethal drugs being consumed, especially with minors, yet they heavily fine a restaurant for selling a glass of beer to a minor, says it all about the NDP.
Postscript: I have been told that polling on the Surrey police issue is in the Mayor’s favour and not the NDP and with Surrey having 11 seats in the legislature, this may spell bad news for the NDP. Is David Eby another Bob Skelly?
(Response: No bar or retailer should sell alcohol or tobacco to minors, but it does reek of a double standard when the law is applied, enforced in such cases and a vendor is forced to pay heavy fines, even for a first offence… but thieves with 42 convictions who have violated law after law again and again and ignored bail and probation requirements at will pay nothing, obey no rules, but are released to roam the streets and commit more crimes, sometimes within hours.That’s how things work when the bleeding hearts rule the roost. h.o.)
This issue goes beyond right or left. We can find socialist governments that have very sensible policies regarding drug use and addiction. Hospital patients have every right to be in a safe environment. Those who abuse drugs and are a danger to others should not be allowed to harm others.
We often think of developing countries when we imagine corrupt governments influenced by the drug trade. British Columbians need to make it clear to their politicians that they will not tolerate policies that encourage drug use in hospitals, that permit patients to use weapons, and create a more dangerous and chaotic society.
It seems that the NDP may wish to discourage people from visiting hospitals. If that is the goal, it may work because many will be reluctant to go to the hospital unless absolutely necessary. The sad reality, though, is that it reflects a health care system in very poor condition.
(Response: Under the BC NDP’s bleeding heart laxness, it’s only a matter of time before some crazed drug user runs amok in a BC hospital … injuring another patient or staff or visitor. Then the government will express surprise, announce a doubling down of security protocols, yada, yada, yada … anything except blame themselves or their wacko policies. h.o.)