CBC is reporting that "Little of Ontario government's opioid crisis money has gone to addiction treatment in Ottawa. The Ontario government announced $222 million over three years in new spending to help communities' treatment and harm reduction strategies as a response to the opioid crisis. So far in Ottawa, close to $2 million has been spent on harm reduction strategies to stem the alarming tide of overdoses. The money has been used to supply naloxone and training for first responders, as well as opening up supervised injection sites. As for actual treatment, to date, $265,000 has been spent to hire a couple of counsellors, a nurse and a nurse practitioner for community-based services. No new treatment beds are expected to open."
That is the root of the problem. "Harm Reduction" has become Harm Promotion. They adapted the Four Pillars program and threw away the other four pillars. All we're doing now is supporting organized crime with tax dollars. We might as well cut the Hells Angels and the Pharmaceutical companies a cheque. It would save human beings a colossal amount of misery.
Treatment saved Kati. Lethal injection sites and Harm Promotion did not.
if people don't die as frequently with "harm reduction" the average voter won't complain. Everyone can get on with their lives and make money. Drug abuse is a thriving industry, not the way we think of it with drug dealers, manufacturers, etc but with police, customs, prisons, etc. those who are "engaged/employed" in the "fight" against drugs might all be out of a job if there were no drug problem.
ReplyDeleteso if we have rehab and its successful, just think of all those who would be out of a job.
another perspective is rehab is about the only thing which works but it is also the most expensive. governments want to be seen to be doing something, but they don't want all that expense which comes with actually doing something.
The government allotted $222M over 3 years, that is not enough for effective drug rehabilitation programs. Rehab just isn't the time in the rehab centre but the greater rehab, i.e. finding people decent places to live, providing them with a decent income, a decent job, follow up medical visits.
Rehab means building hospitals or an equivalent. It means hiring doctors, nurses, shrinks, etc. That is all very expensive. No one is going to spend that much money on a drug addict unless you love them very much. That is what families do, if they can afford it. if the family can't afford it what use are they to politicians who are always looking for financial support.
When I look at the lack of rehab. for drug addicts I think back to the early 1980s and the lack of resources for those with AIDs. We had Reagan out there say it was a gay disease and society in general just left it at that. Then society, in general, became aware it was a disease for everyone and any one. that is when governments took action, medicines were developed, safe sex became the major concern. Drug rehab isn't going to be dealt with until it is as big a problem as AIDS or Ebola was/is. We have only to look south of the border to see how the American politicians are dealing with the opioid crisis. They got the lawyers from the drug companies to write the new legislation which cut the legs off of the DEA.
The point is the tax dollars they are spending on addiction is not going to treatment it is going to help promote addiction which supports organized crime and the pharmaceutical fraud.
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