Ends always justify the means for those striving to do good, no matter the cost to life, liberty and truth. The truth about hard drugs, such as heroin, is blunt - it destroys lives and it kills. With each injection, intravenous drug users on the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver are slowly, sometimes quickly, killing themselves. I believe these people are well aware of this fact. How could they not? The risk of death is an ever-present danger that is impossible for any hard-drug user to ignore, let alone plead ignorance. [continues 357 words]
The Duel This Week's Topic: Should prescription heroin be made available for addiction treatment in B.C.? Why does the left always fall in favour of making drugs more widely available to society? Social conservatives are certainly not the ones clamouring to legalize marijuana, drown citizens in more booze or readily handout heroin. What is it about the left? The only conclusion one could come to is the left's political and social agendas are somehow advanced by promoting a dulled, inebriated and wasted constituency. This is how the left prefers its voters. [continues 335 words]
Columnists Brent Stafford and Petr Pospisil battle over the issues of the day. This week's topic: Is the B.C. government responsible for protecting youth from drug overdoses? Professional government critics such as Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond - B.C.'s Representative for Children and Youth - should acknowledge that government ministries and support services dedicated to caring for youth exist not because government has a problem, but because society has a problem. I caution to not expect such an admission anytime soon, for misery-mongers like Turpel-Lafond never miss an opportunity to turn tragedy into a political attack. [continues 360 words]
Columnists Petr Pospisil and Brent Stafford battle over the issues of the day. The winner of the last Duel on Insite was Petr with 66%. This week's topic: Do we need another 'War on Drugs" to fight the recent outbreak of fentanyl overdose deaths? The recent outbreak of fentanyl-laced overdose deaths is an ominous warning of what lies ahead if the strategy of tolerating illicit drug use and leniency continues. [continues 370 words]
This Week's Topic: Are Safe Injection Sites Like Insite in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside Good Public Policy? I have a lot of sympathy for injection drugs users. Addiction consumes mind, body and soul - without treatment, the disease gets progressively worse, leaving only incarceration or death. That is, unless you frequent Insite, the safe-injection site in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. There, the mortal consequences of hardcore drug use are suspended.. At Insite, drug users can inject heroin (40% of injections), powder cocaine (30%) and methamphetamine (5%) - chasing the high all the way to the point of death, with no fear of paying the ultimate price. [continues 315 words]
Columnists Laila Yuile and Brent Stafford battle over the issues of the day. The winner of last week's duel on CCTV cameras was Brent with 58%. This week's topic: Do the changes in Canada's medical marijuana regulations benefit patients? Passions run high when it comes to patients and their medical marijuana. Understandably, as many feel enmity towards the justice system and government after winning a long fight to secure the right to use and personally grow their own medical marijuana. [continues 359 words]
Columnists Laila Yuile and Brent Stafford battle over the issues of the day. The winner of the last duel on pipelines was Laila with 52%. This week's topic: Should civil liberties be suspended for violent and mentally ill chronic drug users? The horrific murder of Julie Paskall over the holidays has hit home for many. The randomness and barbarity of the unprovoked attack against the 53-year-old hockey mom - who was waiting for her son outside a Surrey hockey rink - has called into question the basic right to safety in public places. While we don't have all the details, it's possible the perpetrator is an agitated, mentally ill user of hard drugs. The rampant use of hard drugs - and the mental illness, violence and homelessness associated with it - have many, myself included, saying enough is enough. [continues 339 words]
