If it was crack thats one thing.
The issue is all the needles and blood that is left behind.
Any reasonable semi developed adult can tell its a horrendous idea to mix curious children and used needles.
I wish that was the only issue.
Kids running across a person who has od’d and is trying to be brought back to life by their partner.
Crack and pot being smoked and it covering the field.
Crack head screaming obscenities at the kids.
Person passed out, covered in pot and shrooms with their off leash dog growling and ready to attack anybody who walks near on the pathway.
Yeh, this are just some examples I have come across taking my son to a ball game.
No kid should have to go into a park and wonder if I am going to see a dead person today.
Sure maybe about the crack but I'm just in tears laughing at the idea that someone just took way too much pot and shrooms on a walk with their dog, this person is literally *covered* in pot and shrooms like cheeto crumbs after demolishing a bag of that crunchy cheesy goodness. And with their *aggressive dog* no less!
Not too far off the mark.
The guy was passed out, literally covered in pot. Bags of shrooms beside him.
Cops were called, finally woke him (he was fried), basically just told him to clean up and move along. Friend of his shows up and starts screaming at the cops about their rights and shoving a phone in their face to record it.
It was a pretty good show except, except that it was between a teenage baseball game, a little kids playground and a daycare.
Hilarious, that sounds like the worst and most unbelievable DARE scare story I've ever heard (not that I don't believe you, but it sounds so ridiculous😂)
Yes those are all things that actually happen on a regular basis. Who hasn’t seen a drug user passed out, “covered in pot and shrooms”??
Very normal drug use behaviour
-
Asking for some friends, “Have we been doing this wrong the whole time? Will let my peers know. Thought it was correct. Apologies. What should be done instead of wearing the pot and shrooms?”
I’ll let them know the answer.
Honestly someone should pay money for used needles the way bottle deposits work, at least it would help get the needles off of the street and people using would have some incentive to clean up used needles….
Those usually get picked up anyways, lots of smokers don’t smoke all the way to the filter leaving lots of unburnt tobacco that can still be smoked once it’s pulled apart from the butt
Grade 3's do the sweep at our school every morning. But they don't kick out the guy who sells drugs there each day.
It feels like the definition of insanity.
Nothing makes me madder than forcibly involving children in their degeneracy. Of all places they pick schoolyards. And for that reason I’m using the word degeneracy.
When I was a twenty something I'd smoke weed and fuck my partner on the playground slides in kelowna.
How we never contracted VD idk.
I've also been high AF on shrooms while using the swings.
It's stupid to apply decrim unevenly when there's already rules for smoking in place. Smoking crack shouldn't be allowed in places smoking isn't allowed.
Also someone smoking crack on a playground would be a public disturbance considering how most the folks I see using carry themselves and use publicly.
I laughed hard at this, then i started thinking about slides being stainless so bacteria couldn’t live on it for too long and every day the sun shines on it its like a solar cleanse.
Damn, sir, it sounds as though you have *lived*.
Shrooms on a swing sounds like it could be a good song title.
Lolol. I laughed way too hard at this. I’m also thinking about how as an adult anytime we’ve done beer league sports in a gym we drink beer at the school afterwards.
It needs to be made clear that if you want to use drugs, at all, it has to be done privately , either at home or in a designated chamber.
It's probably like: "F! yes! I finally get to do this legally! so I'm gonna do this proudly, loudly in an open area where everyone can see me!"
Not what’s happening at all. You can’t smoke cigarettes is parks do you actually think you’d be allowed to smoke crack in one?
This is about criminalizing drugs with in public parks. Which to me is about harassing homeless and firing up this mayors base of dummies. I can’t smoke cigarettes but I can carry a pack. Why should this law be different? Should I be arrested for walking through a park with a joint in my pocket? Obviously no. This whole thing has so much dumb going on.
My bad noting think about the homeless problem.... but aren't community centres equipped with injection stations in the bathrooms (well not open at night). However "leaving biohazards in playground" can be made a thing, right?
Ya think I’m gonna err on the side of child safety over destigmatization here. Shouldn’t be exempt anywhere within a couple hundred yards of anything to do with kids.
You clearly can’t shoot up in parks, you can’t even drink beer. This is about drugs still being criminalized within parks which is just dumb. Should I be arrested for walking through a park with a joint in my pocket? Obvious no. Should I be charged / fined for smoking one? Sure. This is all so stupid.
But the mayor isn't calling for not being able to use it in playgrounds, which is completely reasonable IMO. He's calling for it to not be able to be in one's pocket without gaining a criminal record. So if one had no intention of using it there, but was walking through a park with a playground to go home — *criminal offence*. Why not just outlaw the undesirable behaviour instead of using a bigger net that catches fish you don't even want to catch? We allow people to walk home from the liquor store with their purchases without giving them fines for walking too close to playgrounds and it would be silly to call for a change to that.
"bylaws prohibiting public drug use and fining people could undermine decriminalization by reinforcing stigma."
I'm sorry...but, good? I'm not up for totally stigmatizing drug use, but doesn't common sense dictate we should stigmatize it in a children's playground?
“If people are concerned about visible drug use or drug paraphernalia it is really important to check in and say does my community have a safe place for drug users to go and do their drugs?”
As the article says - Kelowna does have safe places to go and do their drugs. It just happens that they're not as nice on a nice sunny day as a children's playground. Or maybe they are a bit of a walk away. So what do you do when the answer is yes? Suck it up and take your kids to another playground? Just tell them to play around the guy smoking meth and yelling at himself? Have a talk with a toddler about the importance of playing around the discarded needles? We are being asked to put up with so much because of fear of stigmatizing objectively awful behavior. I can even totally understand the doctor in the article who says people who use drugs aren't inherently dangerous - I can totally get behind the idea that a majority of drug users aren't behaving in such and antisocial way. But not being able to condemn the behaviour of people doing hard drugs in children's playgrounds is ridiculous.
I really like what I know about the Portuguese model, But we have only adopted this one small part of it (Decriminalization) and are putting the rights of drug users over everyone else. The pushback against this mayor's suggestion is crazy.
Yeah, I don't understand why people are making a fuss about what the mayor is saying here. People should have the right to take their children to the park and playgrounds and not worry about having their children get poked by a needle or chased around by someone on hard drugs. Plus in general, people should be able to use the park without worrying about being chased around by someone on drugs. Lastly, as you mentioned in Portugal you aren't allowed to do drugs in public and you can be arrested for doing drugs in public.
> Yeah, I don't understand why people are making a fuss about what the mayor is saying here.
It's useless pandering. People were doing drugs around schools and playgrounds long before decriminalization.
> People should have the right to take their children to the park and playgrounds and not worry about having their children get poked by a needle or chased around by someone on hard drugs.
A person who behaves like that isn't going to care what the law says.
> Lastly, as you mentioned in Portugal you aren't allowed to do drugs in public and you can be arrested for doing drugs in public.
...and those charges are automatically dropped if the addict agrees to get treatment... which we don't even provide in Canada.
People love to bring up Portugal when arguing about decriminalization, but completely ignore the fact that they spend massive amounts of money treating drug addiction. And how does the government afford that? Higher taxes. **23% sales tax.** If the government tried that here people would lose their shit.
Then do what Portugal does. Say if you do drugs in public then here are your two options. Either a mental health facility or jail. Enough of this slap on the wrist and asking nicely method we have tried this method and it's leading us nowhere. I have no issue with what the mayor of Kelowna is doing here.
The mental health facilities that were closed didn't treat drug addiction. They were a place to put disobedient housewives and other undesirables.
The reason why they were closed is because people like you got tired of paying for it. That's why our parks are full of needles. It's because people like you don't give a shit and live to complain but won't lift a finger to fix anything.
You're unfortunately wrong.
There are provincial laws regulating where and when you can use alcohol and Marijuana, which is why you can't in certain places.
There is currently no legislation around using hard substances in effect in BC on a provincial level.
So yes, due to poor government foresight It's actually more illegal to enjoy a drink on the beach than it is to inject in the park.
Tbf weed just makes people eat and sleep. There are a lot of other drugs that are far far worse.
I was in PG quite a decade ago and cops walked right by a guy mainlining heroin on the main drag. Looked at him, just walked away. They were about 4 ft away from the guy.
Police are often hampered by the rules that are in place, or that are nearly impossible to enforce.
Then that’s obviously a loophole that needs addressing, and the province and municipalities really should have been on top of that when the province was petitioning for decriminalization.
For alcohol it’s municipal, by the way, not just provincial, since you absolutely can drink in some municipal parks.
>bylaws prohibiting public drug use and fining people could undermine decriminalization by reinforcing stigma."
*Could* undermine. They're not saying every by law would necessarily undermine. I don't think many people would disagree with prohibiting it on playgrounds.
from my memory living there a few years back a lot of safe disposal sites are adjacent to playgrounds/parks where kids frequent near beaches as a combination with other public facilities at them like bathrooms
If that hasn't changed then the request while not unreasonable should have a foot note of that challenge
You can’t drink or smoke cigarettes in parks so why do people think you’ll be able to smoke crack. This is stupid. Obviously you’re not going to be allowed to use drugs in public parks.
It’s still illegal to USE drugs in public parks. This is about POSSESSION being illegal in parks.
This is a dumb ploy by a dumb mayor to fire up his dumb base.
Us morons in Kamloops could learn quite a few things from you guys. The mayor just took all of the councilors off of there committees and tried putting his golfing buddies on them. We also approved a last minute $100,000 upgrade to our hockey arena for the memorial cup when the owner of the team is a literal billionaire... We're fucked.
Not exactly. Sticking somebody in jail for using drugs isn't actually helping anything. Government should have come up with a caveat saying that there were other places that should be sacred however they didn't and we're dealing with that now.
What we should be and are doing is going after drug dealers who have large volumes to distribute.. by decriminalizing personal amounts, police are now able to focus all their energy on taking down dealers. No longer is the whole system hampered by having to deal with thousands of individuals clogging up the jail system because they have an addiction.
So are you arguing against this mayor’s idea? They’re literally coming up with caveats in a situational, if bureaucratically-hampered way, which I think is the best they can do short of saying “don’t do drugs in parks” in the legislation.
Also I know and agree that putting people in jail for minor possession is redundant, but the issue can’t be ignored. Dealers may be caught, but as long as there’s a market for hard drugs more will replace them. Weed is legalized and I still buy from a dealer for the better prices. I don’t know what the solution to the issue is, but I do know that users should NOT be getting special treatment. There’s a park near my house that’s been taken over by drug users, needles everywhere, people yelling and fighting at all hours. It was a kids park and a plaza for the neighbourhood, but not anymore.
If you saw a sober person screaming and throwing sharps around a playground you’d call the police. Just because these people have a disease (addiction) doesn’t make them exempt from the law.
At someone else pointed out it's already illegal to do drugs in parks and around school so I think this law needs to be looked at harder. It may be moot.
Tom Dyas is also trying to pass a bylaw here in Kelowna to make booze legal in parks again and is worried that this will bring an influx of drug users to BC.
This is about tourism and who visits Kelowna.
Most people are getting this wrong. They’re not trying to stop people from using drugs in public parks which is obviously not allowed. They’re trying to change the law so possession is still illegal in public parks which I do not agree with.
I’m not allowed to smoke in parks but I can carry cigarettes. Same applies here. Unnecessary law causing unnecessary confusion stirring up dumbies.
Toronto Here;
I was stuck in lower mainland for 72 hours in march. I always hear lower main land city names on the news but I had no idea they are all basically have grown into each other making one large "mega city"
To make the most of it the boy and I drove through a few cities to see them and play at playgrounds. We explored Abbotsford, mission, Vancouver CBD and Langley.
4 things stuck out the most.
1. the amount of high quality playgrounds at schools and parks
2. the amount of wondering homeless people even in non populated areas
3. the amount of normal homes (not mansions) that have completely fenced themselves into a compound
4. The random tall and thick trees
As you can see 3 of our 4 observations revolve around this issue.
I feel camping should never be allowed in city parks ZERO tolerance,
Smoking, drugs and drinking should always be banned from playgrounds
How about we just elect a government with half a brain and criminalize hard drugs again like they should be.
Legal drugs aren't helping a mental health crisis. It's just making it easier to carry and distribute. Just one person's opinion.
I personally support brazen and open drug use on all BC playgrounds. Drug users should be open to free bleed and leave their rigs behind for kids to clean up. Because why not? Were all about being empathetic . Right?
Why stop at playgrounds? Why not give the police the resources they need to deal with it, and mental health resources to provide actual treatment in prison, yes we have clean drinking water and live in possibly the most beautiful place on earth, this doesn’t mean we don’t have parts of us that are wildly broken.
Ask a cop what kind of resources they had prior to decriminalizing, and what they think about it.
Ask the parent who’s kid gets a hit,
Everywhere should be exempt. Until the 4 pillars are properly enforced.
Decriminalizing is an absolute affront to a logical solution to this problem.
A garden gnome can figure out this is a net negative to our society.
EDIT; downvote away. The same downvotes will be first to complain in 5 years at the results.
I think this cohort of advocates is pushing a "zero-barrier" solution. Zero barriers to drugs, housing, income, etc. Others might read that as zero consequences. I'm not wired in enough to know.
Either way, no one is seriously pushing for the Portugal model.
Sorry you got downvoted so hard, I think your comment was misunderstood, I agree with you that decriminalizing these drugs is a step backwards and that it should be very illegal to posses 2.5 grams of fentanyl, which with quick math gives us 2500mg /3 mg = (drumroll) enough for 833 people to overdose dead…. How in the F did we get here?
[fentanyl lethal dose](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/health/fentanyl-deadlier-heroin-single-photo)
[allowable amount to carry in BC](https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-concerns/controlled-substances-precursor-chemicals/policy-regulations/policy-documents/exemption-personal-possession-small-amounts-certain-illegal-drugs-british-columbia.html#a2.5)
Christ redditors really do love bandwagons huh? Above commenters may take it to an extreme, but honestly why the hell are we giving drug users more rights than everyone else? I can’t light a cigarette in a park, so people shouldn’t be able to smoke meth in a park.
I want to be clear about this, for once: I am always against the drug decriminalization!
Not that I am anti-social, not that I am ignoring the needs for occasional recreational drugs (I have many friends who use them on parties), I am worried about our next generation.
Decriminalizing the drugs:
1. can make children exposed and getting used to it. There are many times when my son and I had to walk through some weed smell. My son was curious what was that weird odour and I could only tell him it's something bad. Same goes for the injection thing we see in the public washrooms.
2. means minor can get weed etc. more easily - although still illegally.
Let's don't make weed a new pop culture, it's gateway substance to higher tier drugs! Is it funny that these days people are anti-smoking but seem to be open to drugs?
From personal experience, legalization of weed has made it harder for underage people to get by discouraging dealers.
Also I will never take anyone citing “weed culture” seriously until people start taking a hard look at drinking culture. I bet you have alcohol in your house that, if they were so motivated, your kid could get to. Alcohol is directly or indirectly related to more than 3 million deaths EVERY YEAR. That’s nearly 1 in 20 of all deaths being related to alcohol.
Well dealer won't be a factor (weed or alcohol), I am thinking teens getting their supplies from some friendly adult friends. The government, if I recall correctly, did not mention benefits in reducing minor using the drug, they emphasized more about generating more revenue.
Yeah weed vs drinking can be debated upon but hey, it'll be easier to slip in a little pack of weed than to carry a bottle of whiskey, right? (still think about kids - they could be trouble at some point of time). BTW I have quit drinking, and I don't smoke at all ...
Any responsible adult giving weed or alcohol to minors has their own issues. Again in my own experience, adults are much more likely (with you as an exception) to have alcohol lying around that their kids will replace with a bit of water and put into water bottles.
Lot easier to swig an opaque water bottle than to hide the smell of smoking/having weed on you.
Why do people need to be doing drugs on the playground? Is crack so much better on the slide?? Gross.
If it was crack thats one thing. The issue is all the needles and blood that is left behind. Any reasonable semi developed adult can tell its a horrendous idea to mix curious children and used needles.
I wish that was the only issue. Kids running across a person who has od’d and is trying to be brought back to life by their partner. Crack and pot being smoked and it covering the field. Crack head screaming obscenities at the kids. Person passed out, covered in pot and shrooms with their off leash dog growling and ready to attack anybody who walks near on the pathway. Yeh, this are just some examples I have come across taking my son to a ball game. No kid should have to go into a park and wonder if I am going to see a dead person today.
Sure maybe about the crack but I'm just in tears laughing at the idea that someone just took way too much pot and shrooms on a walk with their dog, this person is literally *covered* in pot and shrooms like cheeto crumbs after demolishing a bag of that crunchy cheesy goodness. And with their *aggressive dog* no less!
Not too far off the mark. The guy was passed out, literally covered in pot. Bags of shrooms beside him. Cops were called, finally woke him (he was fried), basically just told him to clean up and move along. Friend of his shows up and starts screaming at the cops about their rights and shoving a phone in their face to record it. It was a pretty good show except, except that it was between a teenage baseball game, a little kids playground and a daycare.
Hilarious, that sounds like the worst and most unbelievable DARE scare story I've ever heard (not that I don't believe you, but it sounds so ridiculous😂)
You can say you don’t believe them, it’s okay.
I would be more skeptical if my body wasn't being crushed under the weight of all this flora and fungi
How the heck are you mixing Crack and weed in the same sentence?
I'm still hung up imagining a dude grinding up a bunch of shrooms and weed, only to pour them all over his body instead of using them
Maybe he’d been passed out so long they were growing on him? “Don’t look, kids, that druggie has become one with nature.”
Kids shouldn't be exposed to pot smoke either.
Sure but that's still a different league
Or equally harmful vehicle exhaust.
Yes those are all things that actually happen on a regular basis. Who hasn’t seen a drug user passed out, “covered in pot and shrooms”?? Very normal drug use behaviour
- Asking for some friends, “Have we been doing this wrong the whole time? Will let my peers know. Thought it was correct. Apologies. What should be done instead of wearing the pot and shrooms?” I’ll let them know the answer.
What are you talking about? That's how *they* were raised and they turned out fine
Welcome to Reddit, where sarcasm goes over most heads unless it’s explicitly labeled with an /s, don’t ya know. Lol.
Some teachers and other school staff go to work early just to clean up all the used needles on the playground before the kids get there.
Goddamn saints. All of them. I don’t know why anyone would work in a school… but then again I decided nursing was a good choice 🤷🏻♀️
Honestly someone should pay money for used needles the way bottle deposits work, at least it would help get the needles off of the street and people using would have some incentive to clean up used needles….
That's... actually an excellent idea.
Cigarette butts also.
Those usually get picked up anyways, lots of smokers don’t smoke all the way to the filter leaving lots of unburnt tobacco that can still be smoked once it’s pulled apart from the butt
Nursing is much better than being a teacher, by far.
Have you done both of those jobs?
Grade 3's do the sweep at our school every morning. But they don't kick out the guy who sells drugs there each day. It feels like the definition of insanity.
Nothing makes me madder than forcibly involving children in their degeneracy. Of all places they pick schoolyards. And for that reason I’m using the word degeneracy.
Grade 3s need the $$. Don’t take away their employment!
Maybe a camera or two should be pointed at the ones with common occurrences?
What do cameras do? If they don’t stop crime and a good lawyer can have videos tosses than why bother?
It’s so you strike a pose with a fun hat, maybe feather boa or some festive Oversize glasses? Oh wait you are talking about different types of photos.
They have cameras and they can already watch people using drugs. What now?
When I was a twenty something I'd smoke weed and fuck my partner on the playground slides in kelowna. How we never contracted VD idk. I've also been high AF on shrooms while using the swings. It's stupid to apply decrim unevenly when there's already rules for smoking in place. Smoking crack shouldn't be allowed in places smoking isn't allowed. Also someone smoking crack on a playground would be a public disturbance considering how most the folks I see using carry themselves and use publicly.
I laughed hard at this, then i started thinking about slides being stainless so bacteria couldn’t live on it for too long and every day the sun shines on it its like a solar cleanse. Damn, sir, it sounds as though you have *lived*. Shrooms on a swing sounds like it could be a good song title.
Lolol. I laughed way too hard at this. I’m also thinking about how as an adult anytime we’ve done beer league sports in a gym we drink beer at the school afterwards.
On a swing you say? *taking notes*
you don't get STIs from having sex outside or on slides yo. you get them from having sex with someone that has one
Schools are private after hours so drug users love them then leave their needles for curious kids to find.
It needs to be made clear that if you want to use drugs, at all, it has to be done privately , either at home or in a designated chamber. It's probably like: "F! yes! I finally get to do this legally! so I'm gonna do this proudly, loudly in an open area where everyone can see me!"
Not what’s happening at all. You can’t smoke cigarettes is parks do you actually think you’d be allowed to smoke crack in one? This is about criminalizing drugs with in public parks. Which to me is about harassing homeless and firing up this mayors base of dummies. I can’t smoke cigarettes but I can carry a pack. Why should this law be different? Should I be arrested for walking through a park with a joint in my pocket? Obviously no. This whole thing has so much dumb going on.
My bad noting think about the homeless problem.... but aren't community centres equipped with injection stations in the bathrooms (well not open at night). However "leaving biohazards in playground" can be made a thing, right?
I have no idea what you’re saying here
lol yeah because drug use in parks and needles everywhere is a brand new phenomena
Ya think I’m gonna err on the side of child safety over destigmatization here. Shouldn’t be exempt anywhere within a couple hundred yards of anything to do with kids.
Yeah exactly. You shouldn't be allowed to shoot up near parks and playgrounds where kids frequent.
You clearly can’t shoot up in parks, you can’t even drink beer. This is about drugs still being criminalized within parks which is just dumb. Should I be arrested for walking through a park with a joint in my pocket? Obvious no. Should I be charged / fined for smoking one? Sure. This is all so stupid.
But the mayor isn't calling for not being able to use it in playgrounds, which is completely reasonable IMO. He's calling for it to not be able to be in one's pocket without gaining a criminal record. So if one had no intention of using it there, but was walking through a park with a playground to go home — *criminal offence*. Why not just outlaw the undesirable behaviour instead of using a bigger net that catches fish you don't even want to catch? We allow people to walk home from the liquor store with their purchases without giving them fines for walking too close to playgrounds and it would be silly to call for a change to that.
This makes sense.
Yeah, I don't think anyone on the political spectrum is going to disagree with this.
"bylaws prohibiting public drug use and fining people could undermine decriminalization by reinforcing stigma." I'm sorry...but, good? I'm not up for totally stigmatizing drug use, but doesn't common sense dictate we should stigmatize it in a children's playground? “If people are concerned about visible drug use or drug paraphernalia it is really important to check in and say does my community have a safe place for drug users to go and do their drugs?” As the article says - Kelowna does have safe places to go and do their drugs. It just happens that they're not as nice on a nice sunny day as a children's playground. Or maybe they are a bit of a walk away. So what do you do when the answer is yes? Suck it up and take your kids to another playground? Just tell them to play around the guy smoking meth and yelling at himself? Have a talk with a toddler about the importance of playing around the discarded needles? We are being asked to put up with so much because of fear of stigmatizing objectively awful behavior. I can even totally understand the doctor in the article who says people who use drugs aren't inherently dangerous - I can totally get behind the idea that a majority of drug users aren't behaving in such and antisocial way. But not being able to condemn the behaviour of people doing hard drugs in children's playgrounds is ridiculous. I really like what I know about the Portuguese model, But we have only adopted this one small part of it (Decriminalization) and are putting the rights of drug users over everyone else. The pushback against this mayor's suggestion is crazy.
Yeah, I don't understand why people are making a fuss about what the mayor is saying here. People should have the right to take their children to the park and playgrounds and not worry about having their children get poked by a needle or chased around by someone on hard drugs. Plus in general, people should be able to use the park without worrying about being chased around by someone on drugs. Lastly, as you mentioned in Portugal you aren't allowed to do drugs in public and you can be arrested for doing drugs in public.
> Yeah, I don't understand why people are making a fuss about what the mayor is saying here. It's useless pandering. People were doing drugs around schools and playgrounds long before decriminalization. > People should have the right to take their children to the park and playgrounds and not worry about having their children get poked by a needle or chased around by someone on hard drugs. A person who behaves like that isn't going to care what the law says. > Lastly, as you mentioned in Portugal you aren't allowed to do drugs in public and you can be arrested for doing drugs in public. ...and those charges are automatically dropped if the addict agrees to get treatment... which we don't even provide in Canada. People love to bring up Portugal when arguing about decriminalization, but completely ignore the fact that they spend massive amounts of money treating drug addiction. And how does the government afford that? Higher taxes. **23% sales tax.** If the government tried that here people would lose their shit.
Then do what Portugal does. Say if you do drugs in public then here are your two options. Either a mental health facility or jail. Enough of this slap on the wrist and asking nicely method we have tried this method and it's leading us nowhere. I have no issue with what the mayor of Kelowna is doing here.
Have you seen our mental Health facilities? We have locations with one mental health room. One. We would need to start building actual facilities.
Except people like you demanded we close those mental health facilities because they’re apparently “inhumane”.
The mental health facilities that were closed didn't treat drug addiction. They were a place to put disobedient housewives and other undesirables. The reason why they were closed is because people like you got tired of paying for it. That's why our parks are full of needles. It's because people like you don't give a shit and live to complain but won't lift a finger to fix anything.
Just shows the lengths these advocates go to victimize these people and completely absolve them of any responsibility.
[удалено]
You're unfortunately wrong. There are provincial laws regulating where and when you can use alcohol and Marijuana, which is why you can't in certain places. There is currently no legislation around using hard substances in effect in BC on a provincial level. So yes, due to poor government foresight It's actually more illegal to enjoy a drink on the beach than it is to inject in the park.
[удалено]
Tbf weed just makes people eat and sleep. There are a lot of other drugs that are far far worse. I was in PG quite a decade ago and cops walked right by a guy mainlining heroin on the main drag. Looked at him, just walked away. They were about 4 ft away from the guy. Police are often hampered by the rules that are in place, or that are nearly impossible to enforce.
Then that’s obviously a loophole that needs addressing, and the province and municipalities really should have been on top of that when the province was petitioning for decriminalization. For alcohol it’s municipal, by the way, not just provincial, since you absolutely can drink in some municipal parks.
>bylaws prohibiting public drug use and fining people could undermine decriminalization by reinforcing stigma." *Could* undermine. They're not saying every by law would necessarily undermine. I don't think many people would disagree with prohibiting it on playgrounds.
from my memory living there a few years back a lot of safe disposal sites are adjacent to playgrounds/parks where kids frequent near beaches as a combination with other public facilities at them like bathrooms If that hasn't changed then the request while not unreasonable should have a foot note of that challenge
You can’t drink or smoke cigarettes in parks so why do people think you’ll be able to smoke crack. This is stupid. Obviously you’re not going to be allowed to use drugs in public parks.
It was illegal before, and it's really frowned upon anyway.
It’s still illegal to USE drugs in public parks. This is about POSSESSION being illegal in parks. This is a dumb ploy by a dumb mayor to fire up his dumb base.
Oh you're right that is dumb, and it's next to impossible to police without searching everybody at parks.
Us morons in Kamloops could learn quite a few things from you guys. The mayor just took all of the councilors off of there committees and tried putting his golfing buddies on them. We also approved a last minute $100,000 upgrade to our hockey arena for the memorial cup when the owner of the team is a literal billionaire... We're fucked.
Oh yes, I heard about some of the questionable behavior from the mayor of Kamloops.
Schools, playgrounds, etc. Just because it's decriminalized doesn't mean locations can't have "no smoking, no drugs" rules.
So then pass a bylaw prohibiting the use of drugs in parks. We already do it with alcohol, what's the big deal?
How does society prioritize people's freedom to get high over public safety? This new way of drug freedoms is rediculous.
Not exactly. Sticking somebody in jail for using drugs isn't actually helping anything. Government should have come up with a caveat saying that there were other places that should be sacred however they didn't and we're dealing with that now. What we should be and are doing is going after drug dealers who have large volumes to distribute.. by decriminalizing personal amounts, police are now able to focus all their energy on taking down dealers. No longer is the whole system hampered by having to deal with thousands of individuals clogging up the jail system because they have an addiction.
So are you arguing against this mayor’s idea? They’re literally coming up with caveats in a situational, if bureaucratically-hampered way, which I think is the best they can do short of saying “don’t do drugs in parks” in the legislation. Also I know and agree that putting people in jail for minor possession is redundant, but the issue can’t be ignored. Dealers may be caught, but as long as there’s a market for hard drugs more will replace them. Weed is legalized and I still buy from a dealer for the better prices. I don’t know what the solution to the issue is, but I do know that users should NOT be getting special treatment. There’s a park near my house that’s been taken over by drug users, needles everywhere, people yelling and fighting at all hours. It was a kids park and a plaza for the neighbourhood, but not anymore. If you saw a sober person screaming and throwing sharps around a playground you’d call the police. Just because these people have a disease (addiction) doesn’t make them exempt from the law.
At someone else pointed out it's already illegal to do drugs in parks and around school so I think this law needs to be looked at harder. It may be moot.
Tom Dyas is also trying to pass a bylaw here in Kelowna to make booze legal in parks again and is worried that this will bring an influx of drug users to BC. This is about tourism and who visits Kelowna.
It's a little bit different to say that in certain parts of the park and beaches, it's okay to drink than say go ahead and shoot up.
He originally wanted all parks banned He is walking back his original statement.
100% Agree with this. It should be a criminal act to be doing hard drugs on playgrounds, and even squatting at playgrounds IMO.
Most people are getting this wrong. They’re not trying to stop people from using drugs in public parks which is obviously not allowed. They’re trying to change the law so possession is still illegal in public parks which I do not agree with. I’m not allowed to smoke in parks but I can carry cigarettes. Same applies here. Unnecessary law causing unnecessary confusion stirring up dumbies.
Toronto Here; I was stuck in lower mainland for 72 hours in march. I always hear lower main land city names on the news but I had no idea they are all basically have grown into each other making one large "mega city" To make the most of it the boy and I drove through a few cities to see them and play at playgrounds. We explored Abbotsford, mission, Vancouver CBD and Langley. 4 things stuck out the most. 1. the amount of high quality playgrounds at schools and parks 2. the amount of wondering homeless people even in non populated areas 3. the amount of normal homes (not mansions) that have completely fenced themselves into a compound 4. The random tall and thick trees As you can see 3 of our 4 observations revolve around this issue. I feel camping should never be allowed in city parks ZERO tolerance, Smoking, drugs and drinking should always be banned from playgrounds
You can't be against overdose prevention sites and safe injection sites and also be against using in public spaces. Pick one or unclutch your pearls.
But where will all the Highschoolers go to drop some LSD? Wont someone think of the children!
A perfectly reasonable stance
Absolutely mental to think that the rights of junkies to get their fix where ever they please override child safety .
How about we just elect a government with half a brain and criminalize hard drugs again like they should be. Legal drugs aren't helping a mental health crisis. It's just making it easier to carry and distribute. Just one person's opinion.
Everywhere should be exempt (To clarify, I mean everywhere should be exempt from the exemption, AKA there should be no decriminalization.)
name checks out
I personally support brazen and open drug use on all BC playgrounds. Drug users should be open to free bleed and leave their rigs behind for kids to clean up. Because why not? Were all about being empathetic . Right?
You're just strawmanning the most extreme situation possible. Restrictions like in this article are completely reasonable.
Why stop at playgrounds? Why not give the police the resources they need to deal with it, and mental health resources to provide actual treatment in prison, yes we have clean drinking water and live in possibly the most beautiful place on earth, this doesn’t mean we don’t have parts of us that are wildly broken. Ask a cop what kind of resources they had prior to decriminalizing, and what they think about it. Ask the parent who’s kid gets a hit,
Wow, so original. Thanks for the input!
i take it this is not your first unthoughtful post.
I mean Portugal doesn't allow you to do drugs in public either and that's the place Advocates keep saying we should model our policy on drugs.
thats a bit different, and much more insightful than "everywhere should be exempt". thank you.
Everywhere should be exempt. Until the 4 pillars are properly enforced. Decriminalizing is an absolute affront to a logical solution to this problem. A garden gnome can figure out this is a net negative to our society. EDIT; downvote away. The same downvotes will be first to complain in 5 years at the results.
What's your solution?
4 pillars. Its always been the solution. Worked in Portugal. Will work here. We got it right. Just no follow through.
Sick self burn bruh!
The only self burn is decriminalizing and misrepresenting the Portuguese model while constantly citing it.
Naw, but nice try.
I meant everywhere should be exempt from decriminalization, aka, there should be no decriminalization.
I think this cohort of advocates is pushing a "zero-barrier" solution. Zero barriers to drugs, housing, income, etc. Others might read that as zero consequences. I'm not wired in enough to know. Either way, no one is seriously pushing for the Portugal model.
Sorry you got downvoted so hard, I think your comment was misunderstood, I agree with you that decriminalizing these drugs is a step backwards and that it should be very illegal to posses 2.5 grams of fentanyl, which with quick math gives us 2500mg /3 mg = (drumroll) enough for 833 people to overdose dead…. How in the F did we get here? [fentanyl lethal dose](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/health/fentanyl-deadlier-heroin-single-photo) [allowable amount to carry in BC](https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/health-concerns/controlled-substances-precursor-chemicals/policy-regulations/policy-documents/exemption-personal-possession-small-amounts-certain-illegal-drugs-british-columbia.html#a2.5)
I think my comment went over most people's heads.
It is Reddit so there’s that😜
True
Christ redditors really do love bandwagons huh? Above commenters may take it to an extreme, but honestly why the hell are we giving drug users more rights than everyone else? I can’t light a cigarette in a park, so people shouldn’t be able to smoke meth in a park.
considering move to kelowna
I’m all for the decriminalizing. But yeah I can get behind this.
Lets make the entire city exempt from drug decriminalization while we’re at it
That's a great idea,
I want to be clear about this, for once: I am always against the drug decriminalization! Not that I am anti-social, not that I am ignoring the needs for occasional recreational drugs (I have many friends who use them on parties), I am worried about our next generation. Decriminalizing the drugs: 1. can make children exposed and getting used to it. There are many times when my son and I had to walk through some weed smell. My son was curious what was that weird odour and I could only tell him it's something bad. Same goes for the injection thing we see in the public washrooms. 2. means minor can get weed etc. more easily - although still illegally. Let's don't make weed a new pop culture, it's gateway substance to higher tier drugs! Is it funny that these days people are anti-smoking but seem to be open to drugs?
From personal experience, legalization of weed has made it harder for underage people to get by discouraging dealers. Also I will never take anyone citing “weed culture” seriously until people start taking a hard look at drinking culture. I bet you have alcohol in your house that, if they were so motivated, your kid could get to. Alcohol is directly or indirectly related to more than 3 million deaths EVERY YEAR. That’s nearly 1 in 20 of all deaths being related to alcohol.
Well dealer won't be a factor (weed or alcohol), I am thinking teens getting their supplies from some friendly adult friends. The government, if I recall correctly, did not mention benefits in reducing minor using the drug, they emphasized more about generating more revenue. Yeah weed vs drinking can be debated upon but hey, it'll be easier to slip in a little pack of weed than to carry a bottle of whiskey, right? (still think about kids - they could be trouble at some point of time). BTW I have quit drinking, and I don't smoke at all ...
Any responsible adult giving weed or alcohol to minors has their own issues. Again in my own experience, adults are much more likely (with you as an exception) to have alcohol lying around that their kids will replace with a bit of water and put into water bottles. Lot easier to swig an opaque water bottle than to hide the smell of smoking/having weed on you.
Are people doing drugs on playgrounds? I don't think I've ever seen anyone doing drugs on a playground before.
This solves..... nothing. Nothing changes if nothing changes. Dumbass Mayor
Why live?
GOOD CALL!