The Ontario government tabled an omnibus bill Monday that includes a ban on provincially funded supervised consumption sites and a de facto ban on sites approved by the feds.
As part of its plan to ban supervised consumption sites and close 10 of those operating in Ontario, the province has announced the creation of 19 intensive addiction recovery facilities, named HART Hubs.
A $378-million budget has been allocated to create the new spaces, which will combine addiction recovery with highly supportive housing units. The program should lead to 375 “highly supportive” housing units as part of the hub model.
BC also. People support it because they want to fix the problem, and by fix the problem I mean “make it not visible to me anymore because I can’t go downtown without having to walk near the untouchables and it’s a nuisance”.
(I don’t personally think forced treatment is the solution, but am just reiterating sentiments I have heard)
It may not for some, but some former addicts say without that they would never have broken free of the downward spiral. The drugs make you only find joy in drugs, it doesn’t seem to have a solution
After getting clean, many addicts say giving them free drugs was the worst thing you could do for them, it just helped prolong their problems and delay their treatment. This stuff is hard because those drugs and the lifestyle that can come with it will often change people beyond what they want for themselves.
Didn’t finland do a similar thing and basically ended homelessness? They housed the homeless and provided treatment. Most were able to leave the program because turns out having housing is a huge factor in getting off the streets. I’m not sure the details but they stressed the housing portion was very important, if you want to clean up and get a job, having a safe place to eat, sleep, and shower is essential for that.
You’re talking about housing first policy, and it has nothing to do with addiction. Well except the policy explicitly doesn’t care about addiction.
I know people addicted to opiates in Finland who didn’t get into care because they couldn’t “prove” they had a problem since the healthcare wanted a supervised piss test and he had shy pee so bad he couldn’t. So he didn’t get into rehab.
You’re idolising the Finnish systems a bit. A lot of them are great… on paper.
I’m not saying they don’t work in real life, I’m saying the implementation is shit but the policy is still so good that despite the fucktard bureaucrats, it’s still achieving a lot compared to some other countries. (Cough USA COUGH COUGH)
I’ve genuinely been basically blocked from life because here in Finland even recreational weed smokers are treated as complete junkies by the healthcare. Complete and utter junkies, and I’m not exaggerating. No matter how much I quote the laws and produce doctor’s notes and therapist notes. It’s crazy how archaic the attitudes towards even mild illegal drugs are. And the amount of hypocrisy in that, because most Finns consume quite a lot of alcohol to the point of often disabling themselves for a day or two every week.
But yeah we live so far North allowing homeless people to live on the street would literally kill them. So that’s probably why we’ve got this covered.
That’s because they’re only one part of a whole solution. The issue was never the drugs themselves. The reasons people get addicted to drugs are largely systemic in nature. Systemic solutions for systemic problems.
I should lay out that I believe in housing as a basic human right and think that everyone is entitled to a safe and warm place to sleep. But even when arguing from a practical standpoint it’s next to impossible to find a job that will hire a person with no address and possibly no government ID (need an address to get documents!). For people to even have the chance to turn their lives around they NEED a personal living space to store their belongings. Doesn’t even need to be any more complex than a hotel room.
I understand the frustrations with safe consumption sites, but they are realistically solvable, and the only reason we haven’t solved them is because all these politicians are too myopic to realize the long-term benefits of actually helping our communities. They do provide a real service with the guarantee of medical staff on hand and 100% pure doses that won’t instantly kill you. The problem is that without all the other things in place they look very silly.
But even when arguing from a practical standpoint it’s next to impossible to find a job that will hire a person with no address and possibly no government ID (need an address to get documents!)
There are ways around that part, if we cared enough to implement them. There’s a street in—I think it was Italy?—that actually has no physical existence. Addresses on that street are used to give people with no permanent housing something to write on forms that ask for an address, so they can collect mail, including legal documents and government support checks, or apply for jobs. That doesn’t solve the problem of living space directly, of course, but it might be enough to provide a starting point for some people. Or it would if we had enough reasonably-priced housing.
Calgary has another system - the homeless shelter downtown has some short-term residences where you can have an address and phone number for job hunting. (And a warm place to sleep.)
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That doesn’t sound bad, actually.
Except that the minister was on CBC yesterday, and made it clear that they’re following Alberta’s lead of forced treatment.
You don’t go to these to get clean, you get sent there by the police.
Oh so prison
BC also. People support it because they want to fix the problem, and by fix the problem I mean “make it not visible to me anymore because I can’t go downtown without having to walk near the untouchables and it’s a nuisance”.
(I don’t personally think forced treatment is the solution, but am just reiterating sentiments I have heard)
That is promising, though it would be a good next step to the consumption sites rather than a replacement for them.
The consumption sites would be good first points of contact so users could be provided the treatment centre information.
I’d bet that the contract to build these happens to be someone owed a favor.
I believe in previous threads on the subject, it was identified that forced rehab doesn’t work. I’m too lazy to go find the threads FYI
It may not for some, but some former addicts say without that they would never have broken free of the downward spiral. The drugs make you only find joy in drugs, it doesn’t seem to have a solution
After getting clean, many addicts say giving them free drugs was the worst thing you could do for them, it just helped prolong their problems and delay their treatment. This stuff is hard because those drugs and the lifestyle that can come with it will often change people beyond what they want for themselves.
Who is giving people free drugs?
I checked my kid’s Halloween candy and found 3 whole marijuanas!
Didn’t finland do a similar thing and basically ended homelessness? They housed the homeless and provided treatment. Most were able to leave the program because turns out having housing is a huge factor in getting off the streets. I’m not sure the details but they stressed the housing portion was very important, if you want to clean up and get a job, having a safe place to eat, sleep, and shower is essential for that.
There is way more than 400 homeless people in Ontario.
Yes, the number of units is inadequate, but im taking about the overall strategy.
Canada can’t house their non-drug users… I am a bit confused how they will be able to house drug users lol
No forced rehab, lol.
You’re talking about housing first policy, and it has nothing to do with addiction. Well except the policy explicitly doesn’t care about addiction.
I know people addicted to opiates in Finland who didn’t get into care because they couldn’t “prove” they had a problem since the healthcare wanted a supervised piss test and he had shy pee so bad he couldn’t. So he didn’t get into rehab.
You’re idolising the Finnish systems a bit. A lot of them are great… on paper.
I’m not saying they don’t work in real life, I’m saying the implementation is shit but the policy is still so good that despite the fucktard bureaucrats, it’s still achieving a lot compared to some other countries. (Cough USA COUGH COUGH)
I’ve genuinely been basically blocked from life because here in Finland even recreational weed smokers are treated as complete junkies by the healthcare. Complete and utter junkies, and I’m not exaggerating. No matter how much I quote the laws and produce doctor’s notes and therapist notes. It’s crazy how archaic the attitudes towards even mild illegal drugs are. And the amount of hypocrisy in that, because most Finns consume quite a lot of alcohol to the point of often disabling themselves for a day or two every week.
But yeah we live so far North allowing homeless people to live on the street would literally kill them. So that’s probably why we’ve got this covered.
Some one in BC interviewed about safe injection sites said it is not a help, it just lengthens the slow path to suicide. Oof.
That’s because they’re only one part of a whole solution. The issue was never the drugs themselves. The reasons people get addicted to drugs are largely systemic in nature. Systemic solutions for systemic problems.
I should lay out that I believe in housing as a basic human right and think that everyone is entitled to a safe and warm place to sleep. But even when arguing from a practical standpoint it’s next to impossible to find a job that will hire a person with no address and possibly no government ID (need an address to get documents!). For people to even have the chance to turn their lives around they NEED a personal living space to store their belongings. Doesn’t even need to be any more complex than a hotel room.
I understand the frustrations with safe consumption sites, but they are realistically solvable, and the only reason we haven’t solved them is because all these politicians are too myopic to realize the long-term benefits of actually helping our communities. They do provide a real service with the guarantee of medical staff on hand and 100% pure doses that won’t instantly kill you. The problem is that without all the other things in place they look very silly.
There are ways around that part, if we cared enough to implement them. There’s a street in—I think it was Italy?—that actually has no physical existence. Addresses on that street are used to give people with no permanent housing something to write on forms that ask for an address, so they can collect mail, including legal documents and government support checks, or apply for jobs. That doesn’t solve the problem of living space directly, of course, but it might be enough to provide a starting point for some people. Or it would if we had enough reasonably-priced housing.
Calgary has another system - the homeless shelter downtown has some short-term residences where you can have an address and phone number for job hunting. (And a warm place to sleep.)
What does HART stand for? Homeless and Really Troubled?
Homelessness (and) Addiction Recovery Treatment Hub.
Million dollar starter home?