Thoughts on BC Politics and More

A Salmon Arm woman guides monthly groups of parents or families struggling to cope with adult children who are addicted to drugs, have mental health issues or have a combination of both. “We’re talking about loved ones living rough, have severe mental illnesses and are using substances on the street,” said Kathleen, whose adult son has schizophrenia and a drug addiction. “The groups are peer led, and even though I facilitate... I gain strength from others that are in similar circumstances.” Kathleen’s son has been moving through a revolving door of jail and mental health units in hospitals for many years. iNFOnews.ca is withholding Kathleen's last name, at her request, so as not to identify her son who is currently in custody and is unable to give consent to share parts of his story ... CLICK HERE for the full story 

  Feeding his drug and alcohol addiction — and spending time in jail — filled Tyson Airaksinen’s world before he found his way to the New Roads Therapeutic Recovery Community in View Royal.   It’s been three and a half months since the 46-year-old arrived at the centre, which helps men recover from substance abuse and regain their lives, and he said he’s already seen a major change in himself ... CLICK HERE for the full story

A joint call has been made by B.C. United Skeena MLA Ellis Ross and Vancouver-Langara MLA Michael Lee to the provincial government, urging them to fund a proposal by the Northern First Nations Alliance (NFNA). The proposal seeks to establish a holistic health, wellness and detox centre near Terrace.   The call for action has grown louder after a letter sent to B.C. Mental Health and Addictions Minister Jennifer Whiteside in late May remained unanswered. The letter outlined the urgent need for the centre in light of the rising illicit drug toxicity deaths in northwest BC ... ... Ross revealed that the proposal was crafted by regional First Nations leaders. “For five or six years now, the provincial government has been talking about cooperating with First Nations and helping them deal with the substance abuse issue,” Ross said.    Ross criticized the B.C. government for twice rejecting the proposal ... CLICK HERE for the full story

Government has introduced amendments to the Mental Health Act to improve the care and safety of youth under the age of 19 who are experiencing severe problematic substance use by providing short-term involuntary emergency stabilization care following an overdose.   Based on the expert advice of the BC Children’s Hospital and other renowned child and youth advocates, the changes will enable hospitals to keep youth safe immediately following an overdose. The proposed changes are designed to prioritize the best interest of youth and facilitate better connections to voluntary culturally safe care.   According to Dr. Jana Davidson, chief medical officer, BC Children’s Hospital and BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre, “ Ensuring cultural safety and high-quality care for young people following life-threatening overdose/poisoning with substances needs to be a priority ”. “ ... amendments announced today will allow us to further this work, providing acute care for adolesce...

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May has little understanding of additions or politics. What she is proposing is to enable addicts to carry on feeding their addictions. Health care is a provincial jurisdiction. Any plan to reduce addictions must have a provincial buy-in to work. The first step is to create the treatment infrastructure that allows immediate treatment of addictions for the duration necessary to be effective. The treatment facilities currently in place cannot meet the demand and program duration is limited due to inadequate funding. Decriminalizing drugs does not address those issues. We don’t have an “opioid crisis”. That is political doublespeak that avoids the fact that overdose deaths are caused by unscrupulous drug dealers who add synthetic opioids, such as fentanyl, to other drugs with devastating results, and that we have a substance abuse epidemic.

BC GOV NEWS: A death review panel examining the deaths of people who died during or within 24 hours following contact with police in BC says police are a de facto part of the mental health system and that the role of policing should be incorporated into the provincial mental health strategy, highlighting that more assessment and training opportunities exist. In the report “Opportunities for Different Outcomes – Police: A crucial component of BC’s mental health system,” three promising areas to reduce deaths and improve public safety were identified: Improve co-ordination between health services and police who encounter persons experiencing a mental health crisis; Increase access to mental health assessment, and improve referrals to services for persons experiencing other life stressors; and Utilize findings from police encounters with the public to inform ongoing police professional development. This review of 127 deaths ...

Update as if Saturday April 29th, 2023: APPARENTLY THIS POST now has a warning because it might hurt some people's feelings.  I guess some whiny sniveling individual, that didn't get enough participation awards, got hurt feeling.  Well too bad because these are the kind of people that shouldn't have kids! On Tuesday I heard a news story where a young child, on Vancouver Island, was put at SERIOUS risk by … a drug-related explosion that rocked an apartment building in Nanaimo.  “These types of incidents place all occupants within the apartment building at risk, along with attending first responders and people walking past”, Cpl. Jon Stuart said .  That led me to question and wonder what is really being done to protect young vulnerable children in the care of parents unable, or unwilling, to provide a safe environment from children to grow, learn, and thrive. I feel very certain that I am going to raise the hackles and ire, of many, however, I am g...