tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post3613609845175288042..comments2024-03-28T02:56:24.753-07:00Comments on Gangsters Out Blog: Drug overdose in PrisonDennis Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comBlogger32125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-63530644444132151222014-07-20T06:47:18.275-07:002014-07-20T06:47:18.275-07:00YOUR A GOOF FOR SAYIN THAT N.Y.B.N
YOUR A GOOF FOR SAYIN THAT N.Y.B.N<br />C.MEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07016466861772641576noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-27022318796900255992012-03-27T17:50:04.503-07:002012-03-27T17:50:04.503-07:00YOU GUYS ARE MISSING THE BIG PICTURE HERE I KNEW R...YOU GUYS ARE MISSING THE BIG PICTURE HERE I KNEW Robbie Slatten AND THAT NURSE DID THE WORLD A FAVOR THANK YOU NURSENon ya Biz nizhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16058114846229753632noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-30715233270814687162012-02-29T17:33:22.775-08:002012-02-29T17:33:22.775-08:00It's not the cost it's the absurdity of it...It's not the cost it's the absurdity of it all as well the risk of fatalities of people scamming the drug from the government paid for system.Dennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-61619012791357310312012-02-28T21:04:00.178-08:002012-02-28T21:04:00.178-08:00Methadone is as cheap as chips. Surely you wouldn...Methadone is as cheap as chips. Surely you wouldn't begrudge a junkie the two cents per milliliter it costs to prevent some crime.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-86095031113305766942011-10-22T04:47:55.867-07:002011-10-22T04:47:55.867-07:00I appreciate your feedback. No two people agree on...I appreciate your feedback. No two people agree on every issue and since I post on such a variety of controversial issues, there will no doubt be places of agreement and places of disagreement. Dialogue and free speech are good things in a democratic society. <br /><br />I don’t know much about the methadone program. I do know it can and is often abused. Having a crack addict take a couple hits of heroin then getting on the methadone program just to sell the methadone to buy crack is one example. Corrupt doctors, pharmacists and slum lords that scam the system is another. I believe reducing the dosage while on the program is essential.<br /><br />Alcoholism is also a disease. I don’t think we should start buying alcoholics alcohol in prison when they are incarcerated. Choices have consequences. At some point in life we need to accept responsibility for our choices. A crack addict who is a chronic offender that commits a huge amount of property crime to pay for their addiction should not be given free crack in prison. Spending three months in jail without access to crack would not only be a natural consequence of their decision to commit crime but would be in that addict’s best interest. I personally believe the same applies to heroin addiction.<br /><br />My brother once told me many years ago that when going off a heroin addiction you feel like you are going to die. Yet while going off an alcohol addiction you could die. He took jail time instead of a fine for an impaired charge many years ago. He said the DT’s were so bad even the guards felt sorry for him. Yet over all he claims it was the best thing for him.Dennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-26857871067075695632011-10-22T02:14:16.089-07:002011-10-22T02:14:16.089-07:00Love your blog - longtime reader/fan. I agree that...Love your blog - longtime reader/fan. I agree that harm reduction by itself is weak to useless, but your caricaturing of methadone program proponents as extremists is a bit silly. Weaning is a goal, yes, but for harder, longer-spanning opiate addictions, longish-term methadone maintenance is not inherently wrong or evil, and the reselling/scamming of meth isn't nearly as rampant or blanketing as you say - on the DTES, sure, but overall, you couldn't know. <br /><br />Before I got on the methadone program my lifestyle was so insanely, inctricately latticed around illicitly obtaining opiates I lived every bad cliche about addiction - the mere fact that the program allowed me to avoid the horror of withdrawal, weaning or no, let me get back to a highly productive professional routine. I haven't lowered my dose in a while (not that it was large to begin with) but I am happily maintaining, never abusing, and my support structure of counselling and community are ever-expanding. <br /><br />Like I said, I love your blog, have for ages, but this post kind of missed the mark for me. I think it's impossible to understand the maddening quicksand loop of opiate addiciton unless lived firsthand - hell, I've had problems with cocaine and crystal meth, both hard cases in their own rights, but the physicality of opiate withdrawal makes anything else, even meth, look Mickey Mouse as hell. Often it feels so hopeless that the only rays of hope come from places like - you guessed it - Insite, where one can get some crucial information on where to get started turning life around. The convergence of using place + resource center is invaluable and often sadly overlooked.Le Coqhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13664866485655676379noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-39372567924888300002011-09-12T05:27:04.637-07:002011-09-12T05:27:04.637-07:00Freddy knows about that. He just posts on the blog...Freddy knows about that. He just posts on the blog, I’m not sure how to contact him. I suppose the concern would be someone claiming to be a journalist who isn’t really one.Dennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-78847314969289499012011-09-12T00:48:45.813-07:002011-09-12T00:48:45.813-07:00Agent K, I'm a journalist writing an article a...Agent K, I'm a journalist writing an article about Pharmacies in the DTES providing incentives for methadone patients to fill their prescriptions with them. I'd be interested in talking to some of these people for the article if they're interested. Do you have anyone's contact info? Or are people still reading/replying to these comments? I know its a bit of a shot in the dark because the last comment was made in May.Meghanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05365916904389228528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-92189416771780407242011-05-03T23:44:57.107-07:002011-05-03T23:44:57.107-07:00Brian. Thanks for the insight. If you don’t mind m...Brian. Thanks for the insight. If you don’t mind me asking, how long have you been on the program and have they ever reduced the dosage?Dennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-14979450540207895082011-05-03T18:18:21.319-07:002011-05-03T18:18:21.319-07:00I dont know if anyone still is reading this forum,...I dont know if anyone still is reading this forum, but I have noticed that bilko 777 told freddy that 160mls he would be dead. Im sure you know what he meant. I am on 170 Mgs and am fine. Lots of people should not be on the clinic for the sole purpose of abusing the drug if not selling the take homes. For those of us who are living a functional life due to methadone, I could promise you that alot more people would be dead if methadone did not save their life. Heroin or pills taking uncontrolled would have.Brianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06569903835457502752noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-43907694215407541262011-02-07T07:54:57.652-08:002011-02-07T07:54:57.652-08:00bilko777: Your test post worked. I don't know ...bilko777: Your test post worked. I don't know where your other post went. Maybe you hit preview instead of post.Dennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-27514076743622639322011-02-05T23:56:30.838-08:002011-02-05T23:56:30.838-08:00Freddy, i believed you might be confused. There is...Freddy, i believed you might be confused. There is no way you were on 160 mls per day, you would be dead. I can believe you were on 160 MILIGRAMS but there is no way you were on 160 mls per day like you claim.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-52105855892965428412011-02-04T00:03:46.266-08:002011-02-04T00:03:46.266-08:00No worries. I suppose people could say the same ab...No worries. I suppose people could say the same about me because I’ve been complaining about quite a few things of late including our pathetic judicial system. There are a lot of lobbyists that cry like spoilt brats demanding the government does everything for them including buying their illicit drugs. They want safe injection sites turned into safe inhalation sites where people can smoke crack at the taxpayers expense. Personally I think that is insane.<br /><br />Yet most, including myself, have compassion on the heroin addict. You have to be pretty desperate to stick a needle in your arm and once you’re addicted it is very hard to get off. When I see the video clip of Lisa talking about her struggles and her concerns with the methadone program I’m filled with compassion and hope she doesn’t get beaten for breaking the silence. Anyone on the program who makes the effort to force them to reduce the dosages is to be commended.<br /><br />What a heart wrenching situation Haiti is in. If your husband is involved in assisting in their recovery, good on him. We do complain about our system a lot yet as you say it is better than a lot of other systems out there. Let’s hope we can fine tune it so the atrocities that happen to the disadvantaged in East Van stop and the people exploiting them are brought to justice.Dennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-55704066351488752522011-02-03T20:10:37.798-08:002011-02-03T20:10:37.798-08:00It's not an unfair comment... you mentioned th...It's not an unfair comment... you mentioned there is no support from the system --- you want to see a no support system, take a look at Haiti. There government doesn't give a flying "bad f word" about their own people.<br /><br />They have water contaminated with Cholera <br />They have bodies lying in the street rotting<br /><br />What do we have? Oh right, a government that actually half ass cares. They offer programs to help people like you, who say there is never enough help.<br /><br />Un-responsive system... well, at least there is a system. I haven't seen my husband in 3 weeks! He's out there busting his ass off to help support those "un-responsive" systems so the people who can't help themselves have the option to get help.<br /><br />Freddy, one question... how long have you been using the methadone clinics? I'll gladly fork over a plane ticket to send you to a place like Haiti so you can see first hand how responsive our system is. You can try kicking the habit with no system. <br /><br />Sorry for the rant agent K... but nothing gets under my skin more than having to listen to people complain about this and that. We have it pretty damn good in this country. Yes we have corruption at all levels... but at least our government puts on their caring face.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-78462467758962831782011-02-03T11:03:09.107-08:002011-02-03T11:03:09.107-08:00Jen to Freddy: "So don't sit there and fa...Jen to Freddy: "So don't sit there and fall into the mindset that the government doesn't help you... help yourself."<br /><br />That is an un-fair comment; try reading the posts you're replying to first!freddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00874780016491360565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-70793623034994882762011-02-03T11:00:12.961-08:002011-02-03T11:00:12.961-08:00Jen: "No one can hold your hand and tell you ...Jen: "No one can hold your hand and tell you it's going to be okay, you need to find your inner strength and fight your battle yourself."<br /><br />Yes, you're right, Jen, but didn't you read my post, where I clearly state I take the sole responsibility for getting off methadone? I am forcing a totally un-responsive system to lower my dose by 5 mls.; every single time I show up at the Clinic. Also, I've reduced at times by 10 mls. per visit; until vicious withdrawals set in, and I backed off to 5 mls. per visit. But nobody asks me to do that, ever! I take the responsibility to get off Methadone.freddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00874780016491360565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-85344685431613113332011-02-03T07:36:30.320-08:002011-02-03T07:36:30.320-08:00I guess it all depends on how long you've been...I guess it all depends on how long you've been on the program. Taking ownership is getting on the program and getting off the program as soon as you can. Having someone sit on the program for 10 years isn't taking ownership.<br /><br />I think doses are increased to keep control. A frazzled mind is a dangerous mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-18240995501128434112011-02-02T17:26:16.312-08:002011-02-02T17:26:16.312-08:00I agree many if not most people on the program sit...I agree many if not most people on the program sit back and take the free ride. I think Freddy is taking ownership of his life and that’s why he made a conscious effort to get the doctor to lower the dose so he gets off it. I think it is very significant that they don’t automatically do that for everyone on the program. For them to put people on the program and keep them there by increasing their dosages is absolutely bizarre.Dennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-24497382492290340452011-02-02T09:03:13.455-08:002011-02-02T09:03:13.455-08:00Freddy, you said "But a person has to do all ...Freddy, you said "But a person has to do all this oneself, with zero support from the system."... are you kidding? <br /><br />They are supporting you! They are allowing you a way to kick your habit, at the expense of the tax payers. No one can hold your hand and tell you it's going to be okay, you need to find your inner strength and fight your battle yourself. <br /><br />It's way to easy for people now a days, to take zero accountability for their own faults in life. It would be way to easy to say "I couldn't stay clean cause the government wasn't there to help me". If you want to stay clean and are ready for the change... it will happen. Only you and you alone can find the strength to do it. No support system out there is better than what you have inside of you.<br /><br />So don't sit there and fall into the mindset that the government doesn't help you... help yourself. Think of all the things the government has done for you.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-53597815811912600002011-02-01T12:44:53.218-08:002011-02-01T12:44:53.218-08:00You are on the Methadone program? My apologies for...You are on the Methadone program? My apologies for sounding harsh. You raise a good point about the intent of the program compared with how it’s being abused. Good for you for forcing the doctor to lower the dosage. As you say there seems to be no incentive to do this which would confirm the interview with Lisa who was on the program and they kept increasing not decreasing her dose.<br /><br />The pharmacies and the doctors have no incentive to lower the doses. Just like a privatized prison has no incentive to rehabilitate a prisoner if they are making money off his forced labour. <br /><br />Clearly the two real problems with the system are doctors not decreasing the dosage and the scams involving the resale of methadone to buy crack. A crack addict taking one hit of Heroin and walking onto a methadone clinic claiming he is a heroin junkie then getting free methadone that he can resell to buy crack is absolutely insane. <br /><br />I remember there was a time when welfare in BC was getting completely scammed. People would get fake id and collect several cheques for one person. That‘s when they started making people pick up their cheques making it hard for one person to be in seven places at once. <br /><br />Unfortunately the people who really need it don’t get it because they have made so many hoops to jump through it’s crazy and they have lowered the amounts so much you can’t find a place to stay for that money little lone eat or pay hydro. The people who scam the system destroy it for those who really need it.<br /><br />Clearly it’s time to make the methadone program more accountable by stopping the slum lords and the corrupt pharmaceutical companies which may indeed be a daunting task. Yet it really isn’t brain surgery to track the dosages of people on the program and the length of time they have been on the program. Forcing them to decrease the doses is just common sense. Since the pharmacists are in a conflict of interest perhaps we need a civilian agency to over see that too.Dennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-73252720023809667712011-02-01T12:13:12.307-08:002011-02-01T12:13:12.307-08:00Thank you, Agent K, for providing this forum to ju...Thank you, Agent K, for providing this forum to just briefly discuss the terrible mis-use & abuse by all parties in the Methadone program, which I'm on. I can see these abuses everyday and it makes me mad. To start with, no Doctor forces the "patient" to lower doses, every time I went in and said I was depressed, or anxious, or just about anything, up goes the dose by a whopping 10 mls. Before I knew it, I was on 160 mls. a day, for no good reason. It took me to just start demanding that the Doctor lower the doses, they NEVER will do it themselves, it's crazy! I'm now down to 95 ml. in six months, and I told the Doctor I'm going down by as much as I can; every month till I get rid of it. But a person has to do all this oneself, with zero support from the system. <br /><br /> Think of it, if we all try to get off it, the pharmacies will not sell so much product, which I understand is very cheap for them to make; and they charge lots to Pharmacare for it; then their dispensing fees, a huge money-maker, would slide downhill. The clinics would lose "customers", the Doctors lose out robo-writing prescriptions; the last time I went in for a meth. script I spent ( I check) fifty seconds with that Doctor!<br /><br />Then one can get on the program with one dirty sample! Crazy! If a crack person needs cash, or anyone, why not buy a $10 flap of H.; snort it; and walk into the methadone clinic as a H. "junkie" w/a dirty urine sample. It's a great scam for lots of free rock. Soon they get "carries," and since they're not real H."junkies," they can just re-sell all the meth.! Right now, on the DTES, one average-size daily meth. dose of 100 mls. sells for $20. And they whine, and can get way more than that! One can get, tax-free, maybe $30/day from re-selling just your meth. Think of the total amount that means to the crack and crank dealers...it's a windfall that never ends! <br /><br /> But even that's just the beginnings...organized crime has moved in, and rings of meth. re-sellers buy daily doses for crack, or smaller amounts of cash, & hoard large amounts for professional re-sale.<br /><br />It's all turned into a kind of nightmare. I just want out as soon as possible, while drawing attention to this real drug disaster we've inflicted on ourselves.freddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00874780016491360565noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-88420081068499132272011-02-01T11:23:00.347-08:002011-02-01T11:23:00.347-08:00Thanks. I was beginning to think I was going insan...Thanks. I was beginning to think I was going insane. It really isn’t rocket science. These extremists have taken over the political spectrum and are using our tax dollars to fund organized crime.Dennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-85390774853586960452011-02-01T10:26:39.510-08:002011-02-01T10:26:39.510-08:00Bilko777, you said "So what should the govern...Bilko777, you said "So what should the government do with inmates on methadone? Take it away from them and make them suffer?"...<br /><br />How quickly we forget the people who suffer because of their loved ones decisions to do drugs.<br /><br />What about the incarcerated junkie who got high and beat his kids? Heavens no, he shouldn't have to suffer at all, just let the kids do all the suffering for him.<br /><br />What about the incarcerated junkies who victimized innocent people when they broke into their homes to steal for their next fix? That is one of the worst feelings in the world... knowing your home isn't safe anymore, it's been violated for drugs.<br /><br />But you're right, we shouldn't make them suffer. Instead we should set them up in "Prison A La Hilton". These people aren't in prison because they live good lives, they're in there because they. broke. the. law. And they need to be treated as such.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-45346835359642869502011-02-01T00:10:44.051-08:002011-02-01T00:10:44.051-08:00Wow, thanks for the links. I’m going to have to lo...Wow, thanks for the links. I’m going to have to look more into it. I’m going to have to add that Wolsey guy to the gang member registry as a slum lord. I saw a Youtube video the VPD put out called operation Faulty Towers where they went under cover to expose some corrupt slum lords. There are a lot of scams going on in the DTES and a lot of people taking advantage of the exploited: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VrY1WFszJYDennis Watsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06736981069304416233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6576246045591350665.post-45453939789946498662011-01-31T21:14:13.940-08:002011-01-31T21:14:13.940-08:00You are right, Agent K, and here's something y...You are right, Agent K, and here's something your readers may have missed about widespread methadone abuse in the DTES:<br /><br />"Methadone users on Vancouver's Downtown Eastside say they have been kicked out of their Hastings Street hotel for not getting their prescriptions filled exclusively at the hotel."<br /><br />"Twin brothers Randy and Daniel Howery, who are on methadone to treat their heroin addictions, say they are getting no support from the agency dealing with landlord and tenant disputes, which has ruled the residence is technically a recovery house, not a hotel, so the evictions cannot be challenged."<br /><br />"The brothers were renters at the Palace Hotel and were evicted by pharmacist George Wolsey, the landlord's representative, for not getting their prescriptions filled exclusively at the hotel, the brothers' lawyer Laura Track told CBC News."<br /><br />"Wolsey is an acting director of the Wilson Recovery Society. The Residential Tenancy Branch ruled the Palace is a recovery house for addicts, exempting it from laws protecting tenants."<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/5u7jpzx<br /><br />Pharmacist Wolsey is a notorious legal drug-dealer who makes huge money out of his methadone "hotels."<br /><br />More from the CBC on methadone abuse:<br /><br />"Back in 2008, a maelstrom of media attention fell upon methadone pharmacies in the Downtown Eastside following allegations of widespread corruption and cash kickbacks."<br /><br />"Due to the ubiquitous nature of the methadone maintenance program (thousands of neighbourhood addicts use the drug while PharmaCare foots the bill), competition among pharmacies is fierce. Allegedly, several pharmacies routinely offered cash incentives to methadone users in exchange for their prescriptions—a violation of PharmaCare’s “no inducement” policy."<br /><br />"According to street chatter, covert cash kickbacks still take place. And the brazen distribution of free coffee and cookies—a PharmaCare violation—continues."<br /><br />http://tinyurl.com/4ch4h8a<br /><br />Pharmacare just will not step up and control the pharmacies; and the "College" of Pharmacists is of course....composed of pharmacy owners! They are making staggering profits here; daily dispensing means daily pharmacy fees; it's a dream come true for pharmacies.freddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00874780016491360565noreply@blogger.com