Toronto Star- ‘Overwhelming’: Saskatoon drugs crisis far reaching with deaths and hundreds of calls
The names of those who’ve died, most from drug poisoning, are scrawled on the Prairie Harm Reduction building. Kim Randall, the director of support services, points to the name of a woman who went by Baby Sis. She died in January.
“I’m very supportive of the province’s recovery model, but housing has to be the first step when people are trying to survive on the streets.”
Without getting into a chicken or the egg discussion, I’m not impressed by the province’s recovery model. It seems more like an enabling model.
It’s not just this provincial model. All current “models” of official gov strategy for the drug “crisis” are massive failures. Their consistent premise is that it’s a ‘health’ issue and that addicts must be mollycoddled and allowed to continue their addiction unfettered, and assisted as necessary by any means possible.
Net results over the last decade? Thousands dead, thousands more still addicted and no end in sight to the addiction problem, despite hundreds of millions expended to deal with it. Cynically, the only accomplishment is the establishment of the Poverty Pimp industry, employing thousands of people and making some people very wealthy, right, Dr Perry Kendall (Bonnie’s predecessor in BC).
Addicts have no consequences, save for their ultimate death. There’s little to no reason to stop drugging. Wishful, magical thinking by experts has proven to be completely useless.
The resolution is to cut the head off the snake. Maximum law enforcement. Zero tolerance. No revolving door at the local level. Consequences for bad behaviour.
What am I thinking, even Polievre wants to be soft and gushy with addicts!
Nothing will change in the foreseeable future. Addicts gonna addict, regardless of the feelings of bleeding hearts everywhere!
It’s like putting a bucket under a leak in your roof while there’s a crew up there drilling more holes. Until we start executing the distributors and dealers the problem will only get bigger.
TOTALLY AGREE……………….IT IS A SAD SITUATION ALL OVER THE PLACE………….but ENABLING and giving FREE DRUGS and or space to use it is TOTAL INSANITY………901 calls in a small City like Saskatoon is hard to believe………….
It is an enabling model. One has to ask oneself, why would the government be enabling such a thing? You will notice that many of the deep blue, sanctuary states in the U.S. either have or want to enact similar measures.
Crimes against humanity
Somehow the model seems to be based on the “underpants gnome” model of planning:
1: Get them Housed!
2: Undefined Magic Happens
3: Successful Recovery making the addict a productive member of society.
Somehow, it always seems to fail around step 1.
Yeah, the housing gets ruined in most cases. Remediation to remove toxic residue is common and very expensive.
TorStar loves the #Libranos.
Are they still in support of all things Liberal and NDP?
How many need die before the TorStar changes its stance on those parties?
I don’t personally know anyone who’s died, though a friend of mine through the construction field went out with a girl who was a long term needle addict. She had a baby as a result of that relationship, has never been permitted near her baby as she wasn’t able to pass a drug test ever, while the friend of mine was given custody of the girl, and had to be tested weekly for a year, then bi-weekly, then monthly, and for a couple of years now has not had to be tested. The mom died Dec. 2024 by fentanyl OD.
He had wasted 25 years on a heroin-cocaine addiction. 100% clean now for 13 years, has a beer (one!) every afternoon…
Sad story, but not entirely.
You misunderstand, the TorStar will not change it’s stance, because outcomes of any “plan” are not measured, and the choices made by the victims are just because of circumstance. The only thing that matters is the good intentions, which liberals always have and conservatives never do.
The government doesn’t care whether people die or not, in fact I get the impression they want to kill us. Advocates of “safe supply” and “harm reduction” are likely sales agents for the cartels. It’s hard to draw any other conclusion.
If the gummint workers tasked with solving the drug problem ever actually solve the drug problem, they’re out of a job.
No government agency set up to solve a problem will ever solve the problem.
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Execute opioid dealers and see how quickly the drug problem goes away.
You’re welcome.
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YES IF ONLY IT COULD BE THIS EASY…………..but I agree with you…………….
Why would the government care if these people chose a blissful MAIDed EXIT? Their fentanyl departure was just like going to sleep. They checked out on THEIR terms … not waiting for some “Sky daddy’s” timing … eh, all you anti-Christian government bureaucrats? These people are their own gods.
GAID – Government Assistance in Dying.
It’s good to know that there is no fentanyl in Canada that could be humped across the border to the US.
Saves on MAID costs later. Our governments are out to kill us.
“Prairie Harm Reduction building”. Where some people go to die.
It was so bad in Saskatoon in March that university and tech students were being warned of “bad batches” of drugs in the city. Crazy amount of overdoses.
The city’s drug users are everywhere now, with open drug use and mentally unstable homeless people in previously good areas. Of course, where you have drug abuse and the mentally ill, you also have aggressive panhandlers and break ins. The city is approaching Prince Albert levels of crime and grime these days.
Hey, I remember when the drug scene in San Francisco got so crazy, people were shooting Milk!
Ounce of prevention vs. pound of cure. The academic industry is so very willing to push all but STEM subjects except for the perils of recreational drug use or self medication. Why? Is it the industry’s own ideology or fear of upsetting addict parents?
Parenting isn’t easy, but parents could try harder and maybe try to set a better example.
fentanyl.
well, curious, were the tabs properly labelled ‘mare in Chirer’?
the only ones made in china are the ones given out by the “safe supply” workers, the rest is made here from precursors shipped from china.
I hereby give my two cents of approval to send JTF2 Operators to wherever needed so they can kill every single triad, cartel, biker, other gang member, dock worker, whatever…and any politician who objects.
My Natural Selection theory does not require government assistance. You’re skewing the results.
Let the druggies die of their overdoses. Social darwinism in action. Plus, less druggies to worry about.
THE COST OF THESE 901 CALLS FOR DRUGGIES IS TOTALLY INSANE…………maybe they should take their time to get to the scene of every OD??
We are taxed to the MAX and then this waste of $$$$$$ on druggies is just TOO MUCH
“Every day, two or three overdoses. Thank God we get there on time for many of them,” Keeper said.
Yeah,sure is a good thing. Once rehabilitated, most junkie go on to very successful careers as doctors,lawyers, engineers, fighter pilots, and tradesmen.
Can I possibly be any more sarcastic?
You forgot journalists and politicians.