Everything's Broken - latest Polievre youtube short

[Ron in Regina]

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LANGLEY, B.C. - British Columbia Premier David Eby says he is "astonished" that Health Canada has granted a cannabis company the right to possess, produce, sell and distribute cocaine.

Adastra Labs in Langley, B.C., said in a news release that Health Canada gave it approval on Feb. 17 for an amendment under its controlled substance dealer’s licence.

After the British Columbia RCMP kept reporting that government-distributed “safer supply” opioids were showing up in drug busts, a leaked memo has emerged in which the province’s Mounties were allegedly told to step carefully around “hot button issues.”

Eby told a news conference on Thursday about funding for overdose prevention and mental health that, "if Health Canada did in fact do this," the federal agency did so without engaging the B.C. government or notifying the province.

Surprise…surprise…surprise…

The premier said the province will be contacting Health Canada for answers.

"It is not part of our provincial plan," he said, referring to the ongoing effort to stem the overdose death rate, with an average of more than six people dying every day in B.C. in 2022.

“It is very clear we are in a pre-election time period and the topic of ‘public safety’ is very much an issue that governments and voters are discussing,” reads a March 11 email from the headquarters of E Division, the B.C. branch of the RCMP.

Health Canada has not responded to requests for comment.

Directed at the province’s 150 RCMP detachments, it instructs officers to not directly address potentially controversial topics, instead routing those inquires from journalists and government communications staff, through central HQ. Among a supplied list of potential “hot button issues” are drug seizures and drug decriminalization.

Decriminalization of up to 2.5 grams of drugs, including cocaine, began in B.C. on Jan. 31, after the federal government approved the decriminalization exemption as one of several steps to combat the crisis.

The memo was obtained by the long-form media outlet Northern Beat, which has closely followed the controversies erupting from B.C.’s pursuit of “safer supply.”

In a statement to the National Post, E Division said Northern Beat’s characterization of the memo as a “gag order” was inaccurate.

More than 11,000 people have died from illicit overdoses since British Columbia declared a public health emergency in 2016. Deaths soared as the opioid fentanyl became the dominant illicit drug.

Adastra said in the statement the amended licence allows the company to “interact” with up to 250 grams of cocaine and to import coca leaves in order to make and synthesize the substance.

Adastra CEO Michael Forbes said it will evaluate how the commercialization of the substance fits in with its business model in an effort to position itself to support the demand for a safe supply of cocaine.

“Harm reduction is a critically important and mainstream topic, and we are staying at the forefront of drug regulations across the board,” Forbes said. “We proactively pursued the amendment to our Dealer’s License to include cocaine back in December 2022."

The topic of Adastra's licence amendment to include cocaine was broached during question period at the B.C. legislature, where Opposition leader Kevin Falcon criticized the move.

"Cocaine isn't prescribed, it isn't safe, and this is wrong," Falcon said. "Commercializing cocaine as a business opportunity amounts to legalizing cocaine trafficking, full stop."

Kevin Hollett, a spokesman for the B.C. Centre on Substance Use, said in a written response that the agency knows "very little" about the exemption granted to Adastra.

“Organized crime groups are actively involved in the redistribution of safe supply and prescription drugs,” Cpl. Jennifer Cooper of the RCMP’s Prince George detachment told the National Post in March.

She added, “it might mean how we regulate our safe supply might need a sober second glance.”

Hollett said the B.C. safe supply policy released in July 2021 focused on opioids.

"To my knowledge, prescribed safer supply in BC is focused on opioids, so I’m not clear how this might fit in, if it does at all," he said.

B.C. premier 'astonished' firm got Health Canada approval to make and sell cocaine — The Canadian Press

LANGLEY, B.C. - British Columbia Premier David Eby says he is "astonished" that Health Canada has granted a cannabis company the right to possess, produce, sell and distribute cocaine.

apple.news

National Post correspondent Adam Zivo cited interviews with more than a dozen addiction-medicine specialists and concluded that addicts were routinely obtaining safer supply only to flip it onto the black market for cash.

The consequences of this were two-fold: The “toxic illegal drug supply” was actually being subsidized by the proceeds of reselling safer supply. Meanwhile, that same black market was suddenly being flooded with dirt-cheap hydromorphone.

FIRST READING: With 'safer supply' showing up in busts, RCMP told to step carefully — National Post

The Mounties have repeatedly embarrassed B.C. authorities by revealing instances of "safer supply" opioids being trafficked illegally

apple.news

On the same day as the “hot button issues” memo was sent out, the B.C. RCMP sent out an official statement authored by Assistant Commissioner John Brewer saying there “is currently no evidence to support a widespread diversion of safer supply drugs in the illicit market in BC or Canada.”

 

[petros]

After the British Columbia RCMP kept reporting that government-distributed “safer supply” opioids were showing up in drug busts, a leaked memo has emerged in which the province’s Mounties were allegedly told to step carefully around “hot button issues.”

Surprise…surprise…surprise…

“It is very clear we are in a pre-election time period and the topic of ‘public safety’ is very much an issue that governments and voters are discussing,” reads a March 11 email from the headquarters of E Division, the B.C. branch of the RCMP.

Directed at the province’s 150 RCMP detachments, it instructs officers to not directly address potentially controversial topics, instead routing those inquires from journalists and government communications staff, through central HQ. Among a supplied list of potential “hot button issues” are drug seizures and drug decriminalization.

The memo was obtained by the long-form media outlet Northern Beat, which has closely followed the controversies erupting from B.C.’s pursuit of “safer supply.”

In a statement to the National Post, E Division said Northern Beat’s characterization of the memo as a “gag order” was inaccurate.

“Organized crime groups are actively involved in the redistribution of safe supply and prescription drugs,” Cpl. Jennifer Cooper of the RCMP’s Prince George detachment told the National Post in March.

She added, “it might mean how we regulate our safe supply might need a sober second glance.”

National Post correspondent Adam Zivo cited interviews with more than a dozen addiction-medicine specialists and concluded that addicts were routinely obtaining safer supply only to flip it onto the black market for cash.

The consequences of this were two-fold: The “toxic illegal drug supply” was actually being subsidized by the proceeds of reselling safer supply. Meanwhile, that same black market was suddenly being flooded with dirt-cheap hydromorphone.

FIRST READING: With 'safer supply' showing up in busts, RCMP told to step carefully — National Post

The Mounties have repeatedly embarrassed B.C. authorities by revealing instances of "safer supply" opioids being trafficked illegally

apple.news

On the same day as the “hot button issues” memo was sent out, the B.C. RCMP sent out an official statement authored by Assistant Commissioner John Brewer saying there “is currently no evidence to support a widespread diversion of safer supply drugs in the illicit market in BC or Canada.”

I bet those with memory regret closing Riverview instead of removing the asbestos.....

 

[pgs]

I bet those with memory regret closing Riverview instead of removing the asbestos.....

Blame PET’s charter of rights freedoms and no responsibility for that one .

 

[petros]

Blame PET’s charter of rights freedoms and no responsibility for that one .

And asbestos lawsuits from staff and patients.

 

[pgs]

And asbestos lawsuits from staff and patients.

Human rights legislated the removal of forced confinement , in my memory .

 

[petros]

Human rights legislated the removal of forced confinement , in my memory .

Nope. New drugs and costs (asbestos removal) to keep open. They are still removing asbestos and the new drugs didnt work.

COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – It’s been 40 years since the decision was made to close the Riverview psychiatric hospital in Coquitlam. The site, which once housed thousands of people, would become empty.

Shutting down the facility is a decision that would have lasting repercussions, decades after the final patients stepped out Riverview’s doors.

“The introduction of psychiatric medications allowed for the possibility, in the eyes of people treating mental health patients, that they could go out into the community and contribute to the community,” York University historian Megan J. Davies explains.

After decades of housing and treating those considered mentally ill, in the 1980s, the province of B.C. developed a plan to shutter the hospital. The approach to mental health was changing and institutions like Riverview were no longer considered ideal. In the years that followed, Riverview’s wards were gradually closed and its patients moved out.




The major shift in mental health practices started in the 1950s and 60s. Shuttering people away in large institutions was no longer seen as the best approach. Instead, so-called “de-institutionalization” sought to try to integrate mental health patients back into communities. Money was also a factor in the decision to close the facility, as Ottawa made funding for new hospitals the priority, rather than expand institutions like Riverview.

“So, for the provinces, it was a bit of carrot and stick for them because they could just put a psychiatric ward in at UBC hospital, or Vancouver General Hospital, so that was the financial incentive,” Davies tells CityNews Vancouver.

Community integration for Riverview’s patients was a long and complex process. For some patients – who spent decades there – it seemed almost impossible. Marina Morrow, professor of Health Policy and Management at York University, tracked down some of the last patients being transferred out of Riverview. During her research, one person, in particular, caught her eye.

 

[petros]

Nope. New drugs and costs (asbestos removal) to keep open. They are still removing asbestos and the new drugs didnt work.

COQUITLAM (NEWS 1130) – It’s been 40 years since the decision was made to close the Riverview psychiatric hospital in Coquitlam. The site, which once housed thousands of people, would become empty.

Shutting down the facility is a decision that would have lasting repercussions, decades after the final patients stepped out Riverview’s doors.

“The introduction of psychiatric medications allowed for the possibility, in the eyes of people treating mental health patients, that they could go out into the community and contribute to the community,” York University historian Megan J. Davies explains.

After decades of housing and treating those considered mentally ill, in the 1980s, the province of B.C. developed a plan to shutter the hospital. The approach to mental health was changing and institutions like Riverview were no longer considered ideal. In the years that followed, Riverview’s wards were gradually closed and its patients moved out.




The major shift in mental health practices started in the 1950s and 60s. Shuttering people away in large institutions was no longer seen as the best approach. Instead, so-called “de-institutionalization” sought to try to integrate mental health patients back into communities. Money was also a factor in the decision to close the facility, as Ottawa made funding for new hospitals the priority, rather than expand institutions like Riverview.

“So, for the provinces, it was a bit of carrot and stick for them because they could just put a psychiatric ward in at UBC hospital, or Vancouver General Hospital, so that was the financial incentive,” Davies tells CityNews Vancouver.

Community integration for Riverview’s patients was a long and complex process. For some patients – who spent decades there – it seemed almost impossible. Marina Morrow, professor of Health Policy and Management at York University, tracked down some of the last patients being transferred out of Riverview. During her research, one person, in particular, caught her eye.

While Valleyview was built to accommodate 328 patients, contemporary standards would probably allocate this space for approximately 200 beds. Last December, when Minister Rich Colman was asked why Valleyview was slated for demolition, he shrugged his shoulders and said it was the asbestos in the building.

Of course, many buildings dating from the 1950s have asbestos in them. Often, it is in the form of floor tiles or, sometimes, insulation or drywall. But the mere presence of asbestos in a building is not a reason to destroy it. If, for example, your older home contains asbestos tiles, there are methods for safe removal or ways to simply seal the offending material in place. The presence of asbestos does not mean your entire home must be torn down.

BC Housing has never disclosed the rationale for destroying Valleyview.

 

[pgs]

While Valleyview was built to accommodate 328 patients, contemporary standards would probably allocate this space for approximately 200 beds. Last December, when Minister Rich Colman was asked why Valleyview was slated for demolition, he shrugged his shoulders and said it was the asbestos in the building.

Of course, many buildings dating from the 1950s have asbestos in them. Often, it is in the form of floor tiles or, sometimes, insulation or drywall. But the mere presence of asbestos in a building is not a reason to destroy it. If, for example, your older home contains asbestos tiles, there are methods for safe removal or ways to simply seal the offending material in place. The presence of asbestos does not mean your entire home must be torn down.

BC Housing has never disclosed the rationale for destroying Valleyview.

So it was a bit of both .

 

[petros]

So it was a bit of both .

That real estate is primo.

 

[pgs]

That real estate is primo.

And being built upon .

 

[petros]

And being built upon .

Not from what Ive seen. Just rebuilding the boiler building and a meat wagon station.

 

[pgs]

Not from what Ive seen. Just rebuilding the boiler building and a meat wagon station.

There seems to be lots of construction on the north side .

 

[petros]

There seems to be lots of construction on the north side .

Off Orchid?

 

[pgs]

Off Orchid?

Maybe I hardly go that way .

 

[petros]

Maybe I hardly go that way .

Meat wagon station.

 

[Taxslave2]

Meat wagon station.

Seems a good use for farmland. Not far from Picton's place.

 

[petros]

Seems a good use for farmland. Not far from Picton's place.

Its on a slope, about 16%.

 

[petros]