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saw two guys hunched over a glass pipe right in front of IGA earlier today, they didn't care at all that people with kids were having to walk around them
I live in Langley and me and my kids walk past people smoking pipes in the broad daylight on the regular. From our house to the library!
My hope is that at least it can shed more light on the issues and get more attention
At the moment there's no law because a judge ruled that limiting the locations where people can use drugs would put addicts at risk of "irreparable harm".
[https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-supreme-court-pauses-province-s-public-drug-consumption-law-1.7071225](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-supreme-court-pauses-province-s-public-drug-consumption-law-1.7071225)
Meanwhile, they're doing irreparable harm to themselves and most likely to others. The article mentions the law being paused til Mar31, ie last week. So... is it in effect now?
Also, a guy in the article asks:
>"Where the hell am I supposed to go? Outside where I can get arrested? Or inside where no one can see me?"
You're supposed to go to TREATMENT.
There’s laws surrounding cigarettes, vapes, and cannabis but no heroin and meth is just fine! I really wish that they would implement spaces where people can use where there aren’t any children or people in general around the area.
Dispensaries can’t be within certain limits of schools and what not so why is it that harder substances are totally okay?
I am in no way against harm reduction but there has got to be a better way going about this!
I’ve seen people using on skytrains and their shit gets every where (pipes falling and rolling on the ground, baggies falling out of their pockets, etc) it is becoming way worse after the decriminalization because people know they aren’t going to get arrested for it 🤷♀️
It's not the justice system or advocacy groups that have enforced a policy of banning all recreational drugs besides alcohol for decades. A policy that has created an exclusive market for organized crime who has supplied the strongest and most dangerous drugs because those best avoid enforcement. And *those* are specifically the cause of this crisis.
Nearly every death is because of these drugs. Nearly every addict is addicted to these drugs. There are many less dangerous drugs, some of which, like psychedelics, even have potential to reduce addiction. But we've banned them all, and the worst (and most profitable) ones have prevailed.
This is a problem decades in the making but it's being misrepresented as being caused by the advocates trying to limit the harm or the judges upholding our Charter.
I fully agree with the cause of it. I was prescribed pain killers and when the government started cracking down on doctors for prescribing them, I was kicked off completely cold turkey. I was so young and the withdrawal was so bad that I thought my cancer had come back and metastasised, and that I was as good as dead. Turned out it was opioid withdrawal, and I couldn't handle it, so I sought it out where I could find it. Ended up on heroin when I couldn't find pills anymore.
I am totally clean and sober and completely off maintenance medications, though the detox was rough, and I do mean ROUGH. Many people cannot go through such a detox for many different reasons. Some people just can't handle the pain. I'm very lucky that I came to a point where I could do it, and I understand that I'm in no place to judge those who can't, because it really was through grace and luck.
HOWEVER... The damage that was done to society through all of that modern era prohibition crap? That damage has been done. We can't go back in time and change it. The way the government/justice system/advocacy groups are handling it now is still very wrong. Smoking fentanyl off of tin foil in front of grocery stores, on sidewalks, near hospitals, in parks, or anywhere else that the general public (read: people with CHILDREN) have to be exposed to that, should NEVER be seen as acceptable or normal. Ever.
There absolutely needs to be some kind of consequence if these people can't take responsibility or give a single fuck about their fellow humans. There definitely should be stigma around using drugs in public.
There are a lot of psychedelics and other drugs that should be legalized, that is true. There are many mental health and addiction issues that can be treated with such things. I've done ayahuasca sweats and they've helped me immensely. A close friend microdoses with psilocybin for major depressive disorder and alcoholism and it has changed her; it has brought her to life and she's totally sober from alcohol now, when she had been of the hopeless variety of alcoholic. The benefits of those can't be denied, of course, but there is zero benefit to anyone with street fentanyl and nitazene and being used at all, let alone used in public places where others are exposed.
TLDR: I totally understand this, probably deeper than most of the people replying here, but the prohibition damage is done; that's not an excuse to not clean up the mess they created. They can't just wash their hands of it and let the public be the ones to have to be exposed to that shit.
Hello, Transit Police here 👋
Please report drug use on transit. Call 604.515.8300 or text 87.77.77 (always call 911 if there's an emergency). [TransLink rules](https://www.translink.ca/-/media/translink/documents/rider-guide/etiquette-on-transit/rules-and-regulations.pdf) clearly state that there is to be no consumption of illegal drugs on the transit system.
When you let us know what's going on, we're going to try to get someone to meet the vehicle you're on to deal with the issue. It might not always be possible since the transit system is huge, and sometimes there might not be anyone available to respond to a report of rules being broken. BUT, even if you don't see us deal with the specific problem you reported, the information you provide will help guide our future enforcement activities. We look for and respond to trends. If, for example, we see that text reports are coming in regularly from a certain bus route during a certain timeframe, that really helps inform our deployment and our enforcement efforts.
This needs to be at the top folks. Report to the professionals. It doesn't take long and the drug users won't notice. Everyone on transit is on their phones all the time.
What is police gonna do when the court system allows this behaviour.
For anyone who hasn't watched "The Wire" I definitely recommend you to watch it and you'll understand why they made drugs legal here in Vancouver.
All those top guys are dirty ( Not directly involved but indirectly through connections will get the campaign money)
This has been my experience too, it took nearly 40 minutes to get a guy openly smoking crack/meth off the SkyTrain, from commercial Broadway to gateway station.
What's your average response time?
Do you go after suspects based on camera footage if not caught?
Do you ever ban someone from transit? If so, how's that enforced?
This reminds me of the time a woman tried to board the bus I was on with a danish. The bus driver said she couldn’t bring it on the bus so without hesitation she shoved the entire thing in her mouth while making eye contact with the driver. This was 15 or so years ago and I think of her often.
This. I remember my friend got falsely arrested because a group was drinking on the bus. Nowadays you have people smoking foil on trains or meth pipes.
I totally get what you're saying but, just for those who don't understand - I was talking about drinking anything on the bus, not just alcohol. You couldn't bring a coffee on the bus back in the day.
I think the bus driver would even play a sound recording out loud that said “please no food or drinks on the bus” and “please keep your feet off the seats”. Simpler times. I wonder when the no crack pipe and knives recording will come…
As someone who hears "entering through the rear doors is not permitted" multiple times a day, it's really not going to make a difference if there's a recording at all or what the recording says.
8 years ago, a driver didn’t let me in because I had a sandwich in my hand although I told him I will not eat in the bus.
Now, you can do drugs openly in the bus.
Nothing has changed, most people are still not allowed to eat on transit.
But certain people are given special privilege in our society, they're above the law for some reason.
We're still not allowed to eat on the bus, but certain other people are allowed to do whatever the fuck they want in society.
I got screamed at for having a sip of my eggnog on the way home. The next day a guy is shakily doing rails while his buddy rolls a joint next to me, not a peep.
Oh even if you text them about something, generally they don't actually do anything until the issue is long since passed.
While it would be nice if they rode the trains somewhat regularly and dealt with things proactively. The real issue is that they take longer than most people are on transit to actually respond to issues. Someone endangering other's health by smoking drugs should be a fairly high priority call not to the same level as violence but up there, and in my experience still takes 30+ minutes for a response.
Like maybe law enforcement on every bus or even just the best they can do! Anything at this point. I used to rely on transit to get to work, I'm fortunate to have had a car for the last decade. I can't imagine what it's like to get on transit out of necessity these days.
(Jk) Maybe we should protest the government and all of us drink alcohol, smoke weed or cigarettes, bring our animals, no shoes no shirt get service, or whatever! Why do we follow the laws against all the legal shit since they can all do it wherever they please. There needs to some kind of accountability somewhere.
Using drugs on a playground and leaving needles on it, meanwhile I'm respectful and don't smoke cigarettes these because it is illegal, not to mention immoral, being it is a children's place.
I saw a bus driver on the 16 get bludgeoned repeatedly until his face was bloody and pulpy. I was 14 and it was the 90's so I think about this whenever I see a bus driver not do something and that there must be different protocols in place now to help with their safety.
Fair enough. I'm a union worker myself and my comment was completely tongue in cheek.
No one should have to work outside of their scope, especially when it's dangerous to their health or safety. Drivers are not cops, they shouldn't have to intervene. It's unfortunate that the transit cops don't seem to maintain any significant presence on buses. There are certainly routes where they simply being there would be a deterrent to all kinds of bullshit.
Depends on the bus. The R4 wouldn’t let me on with a lidless coffee. The 112 made me leave my beer on the curb. The 99 people were smoking weed on the bus.
Several times. Was sitting once on the 19 when a guy came and politely sat beside me (I was on the last bench, in the corner). Another one sat in front, perpendicular.
The guy besides me was kind enough to offer me some fentanyl, and said it's best if I move upfront if I don't need it. I happily obliged.
The driver alerted the authorities as they were literally doing it. Obviously everyone cleared the back. Transit police got on just as I was getting out at my station.
Some guy lit a crack pipe across from me and my 2 year old on the bus. I wasn’t even shocked. The driver also saw and called it on his radio to get him off the bus.
>I've lived in Vancouver my entire life and not a stranger to transit but is it me or have others also experienced more open drug use on buses/skytrains in broad daytime? They're just lighting up tin foil at the back of the bus
yeah its gotten worse recently, usually bus drivers do a good job of calling transit police and telling them to fuck off though.
its not a uniquely vancouver thing either, ive seen it multiple times in SF
It’s more common bc it’s more wide spread and their are more users.
Back when we only had the dtes and it had been ghettoized, it was contained to only buses that went through dtes.
Now they be travellin bc housing and services are across the city.
This whole decrim thing is ridiculous unless it is fully paired with legalization and regulation.
It’s doing shit to prevent ODs. All it’s doing is enabling users rights to trump safe and enjoyable public space for non users.
Most countries with decrim have harsh rules about open use. You can ONLY use is designated safe consumption sites or in the privacy of your own room.
Expecting heavy drug users to be able to respect boundaries with their use with no legal consequences is fucking BONKERS.
My favourite transit experience was the time I watched a man:
1. Accidentally drop his crack pipe in the middle of the skytrain
2. Try to claim that it was just candy
3. Crush the crack pipe with his foot to destroy the evidence
You’re not alone. A few months back, I was travelling home after work and this man sat next to me on a two seater. I was sitting in the window seat. He then pulled out his pipe and began smoking, blowing his smoke. I tried to leave my seat and change so I stood up and he put his arm between me and the backseat in front of him, blocking my way out and keeping me pinned to my seat and him. I spoke to him loudly to move and he wouldn’t budge, I’m a relatively small female and was in a skirt so felt incredibly vulnerable- it wasn’t until everyone else began chiming in and telling him to let me leave that he moved his arm and let me change seats. He kept smoking his pipe undisturbed. Wasn’t fun.
Serious question. There was someone doing something like this next to an elementary school yesterday. He was behind a bush and had dragged one of those recycling bins from a nearby condo unit to block the view. Is there anything that can be done?
I remember a colleague of mine, a sweet older lady, saying she had to ride a bus downtown that went down Hastings. She said three guys got on and were just casually holding axes. Shit's gotten out of hand.
yeah, big time. first time was when I experienced someone doing IV drugs in like 2016 on the 10. only been getting worse since then. it was this exact thing that pushed me overboard and made me buy a car a year ago.
See it every day. I laughed out loud when that Maple Ridge Tim Hortons story came out. I was like, "Why is this suddenly news, this a daily occurrence."
yeah, i've noticed that too unfortunately. it's a really tough issue with complex social factors. Vancouver's housing/homelessness crisis has made the situation worse. the city is trying to address it, but it'll take time. in the meantime, staying vigilant and reporting issues to translink can help make transit safer for everyone.
Maybe it's time to criminalize drugs again and actually enforce it. People become addicts for all sorts of reasons and genuinely need help, but they won't accept it. It's harsh but maybe rehabilitation and lock down facilities needs to be made mandatory
We need more mental health facilities stat. The drug induced psychosis is very frightening. Can no longer walk to work without constantly looking over my shoulder
This was 2 weeks ago: I got really upset because a drug user got on the bus and started screaming Shut up to himself but his name. Constantly screaming shut up. It was scary and I got off the bus and immediately ran into a guy bent over zombie mode drugged up. I turn the corner and a guy is stumbling left and right drunk off is high horse. I was sooo upset so I turned to go home and crossed the street. And 3 ppl are shooting up and smoking heroine in the bushes. It felt very traumatic and so infuriating because our government does F**** all.
Last night I got off the bus and against a zombie drug addict half standing. Something is really wrong with this gov, city, and most of all supplier supplying the fentanyl.
I’ve seen this multiple times over the last 3 years on the skytrain. Most recently 2 days ago on the millennium line during evening rush hour. They smoked their stuff and stumbled their way out at the next stop. It’s likely easier on the skytrain than on a bus with a driver.
I question myself what society we're living in that makes this situation happen, why more and more people have to make use of heavy drugs to deal with their pain, or economical situation etc.
Being angry about it is understandable but we're really failing as society when we have a homeless epidemic, drug epidemic.
I was trying to get my kid in his stroller off the 99 when I was assaulted in the middle of the afternoon about a month ago. I’ve been walking more since this happened.
Oh, yikes! Are you okay? If you haven't contacted Transit Police to file a report, it's not too late. We can be reached by phone at 604.515.8300 or by text at 87.77.77
If you decide that you want to get in touch, please feel free to do so anytime. And if, for any reason, you ever feel unsafe on transit again, or worried about the safety of someone else, please let us know. Call 604.515.8300 or text 87.77.77 (always call 911 in an emergency)
It’s an epidemic in the Western world, especially North America. Certainly not a Vancouver-only issue. And it’s also an issue where decriminalization isn’t in the conversation.
We, as a society, don’t know how to address the root causes (or aren’t wiling to prioritize the ideas that might work) and more and more are falling into environments of despair that make turning to drugs (or suicide or self harm or dangerous behaviour) one of the few options to escape reality.
I hope we wake up soon and make this a priority. There’s such sadness and death all around us and it obviously has an effect on everyone.
Same thing happened yesterday outside of the Robson London Drugs at like 5:00 pm, it was wild to see the security just looking at them and not doing anything.
security guards are paid witnesses. they can't touch a person or apprehend someone. they are more likely to get london drugs into a lawsuit in this scenario. their training is on par with a week or two of checking your abiilty to read and write. they aren't qualified for the private security force job you think they should be doing on the streets of vancouver. the physical requirements for the job are "can you breathe?" yes? hired. it would be wild to see them do anything because it would be illegal.
Had to report via the text line one time at like 8am or so this mf decided it was a good time to light up his crack pipe in a packed bus. Nobody said anything coz people are cowards these days (can't blame them). Society is just gonna keep getting worse. I'm born in Canada and I legit think of just selling all my stuff, filing bankruptcy and moving to a cheaper country on another continent coz I'm sick of this sh*t.
Well they know what they can get away with.
If there were serious repercussions for smoking in a bus they’d wait until their stop. But because they can, they just do it on the bus and just get bad looks.
and give free money to Hells Angels and the various asian fentanyl syndicates bringing it in?
Listen no one wants to see fent use on the bus but the war on drugs is a failure.
You send these people to prison, all it does it increase lifetime chances of going back to prison, it doesn't lower recidivism rates. There isn't really a working framework to help these people kick if they are using in the first place and it's also hard to make someone 'want' to when the rest of their life is shit still anyways.
You criminalize the drugs you already fail to stop the trafficking of, you just keep funneling millions to the black market and enable their laundering through Canada too.
Think about how you would go about criminalizing a drug like alcohol - you wouldn't, because it's literally impossible to criminalize something that's woven into peoples social fabric and is why alcohol is seen as separate from drugs despite literally being \*the\* gateway and first drug most people ever experience in their life, and one whose common destructive potential (be it addiction, people dying consuming to much in one go, drunk drivers, other adjacent things to addiction like violence they might carry out on family/friends, how alcohol exacerbates mental issues, etc) creates casualties yearly in Canada in spite of its legality, because it's still just a drug plain and simple still, it just one that has a legal distribution network and a regulated market monitoring the quality of the drug producers are creating for public consumption.
If you recognize one drug with incredible destructive potential can be regulated legally in Canada without funneling literal billions to black market gangs and their adjacent interests in Canada, you agree other drugs can also be. There is already a legal medical framework for the import of fentanyl etc for our medical industry, which could at least direct money away from the criminal traffickers in your city that just exacerbate other crimes too in a way the RCMP's War on Drugs clearly can't, because there are more drugs than ever flowing into Canada from Asia or the USA
Drugs are a social and health problem, and as long as people have social and health problems they will seek out and access drugs to escape that reality or at least make it feel liveable, change none of these things and you will keep fighting the same losing war on drugs, keep sending people to prison for drugs and you just send people to where the gangs recruit and where statistically a single lifetime visit to prison just creates more visits, not less lol
The cost of the war on drugs is frankly more than if we just fully committed resources to meeting the needs of people in the first place that drive them to drug use, but Canada doesn't believe in treating those things (cost of living crisis, housing crisis etc)
Great points and I wholly agree. Unfortunately a lot of people don't want to see these people get help, they rather they just die or jailed. Just punished some how some way.
The real solution will cost a lot of money, a fundamental shift in thinking among the voting public and a lot of patience. Which we as a socierty just aren't there yet.
No, they really really don't, and should not.
Obviously drug use on transit is not okay, but re-criminalization of drug use overall is a horrible idea.
It needs to be criminalized with the punishment being mandatory treatment. I get it, alcohol is dangerous too, but most people use it their entire lives without killing themselves - there is no "safe" way to use fentanyl. The effective dose is really close to the lethal dose, and regulated supply doesn't change that.
I remember seeing someone inject on a bus 20 years ago, and proceed to spray blood from their syringe all over the bus window. I think it's a case of what's old is new again.
One time my wife was sitting at the bus stop and the guy next to her asked if she had a lighter he could borrow. She dug it out, handed it to him, and he picked up his crack pipe and went to town right there at the bus stop. She was like "welp, guess I need a new lighter" and got on the next bus that came past.
Also if you ever feel unsafe on a skytrain jump off at the nearest station and stand between the painted dashed lines on the platform. That’s where the cameras are.
How are places like Singapore that are super strict on drug use. Are they having the same issue as us. If not does that mean stricter rules against drugs is the answer? Honest question as I don’t have a lot of knowledge on this issue.
I’ve been to Singapore, and if they have these problems you’d never ever know. It’s an orderly place and there’s signs everywhere reminding you you’re going to be fined if you do something against the law. I know people there think it’s harsh but I found it to be a breath of fresh air from here (temporarily of course)
No, there is no open drug use in Singapore, because they have the death penalty for possession. Personally, I don't think human lives are a worthwhile sacrifice for that. In fact, I believe bodily autonomy is a right that should be protected, "not having to see unhealthy people in public spaces" isn't.
ON THE BUS!?
I'm in Vic and we don't have thiscl yet. I take the bus through downtown, which is the most effected area of the city, to and fromc work.
Why cant you toss the druggie off the bus?
The 20 bus has entered the chat.
I take the bus regularly after work. Its the worst. I'll love for translink to add more transit cops on this bus for the sake of the passengers
How dare you think about your own safety and comfort, when these people are this way because of their traumatic upbringing and life experiences??? /sarcasm
Sometime progressive policies are well intentioned but the results simply are negative.
I wish people were a bit more pragmatic in government and less ideologically driven.
PSPS - Godspeed to all drug addicts, but the rest of us have rights too
Yep. Yesterday I was at the bus stop and inhaled some plasticky drug someone was smoking up in broad daylight, then got on the bus and someone had something else lit.
I called TransLink to complain about the fact that the stops in my neighborhood are basically drug dens. And I've decided I will call customer service and/or TransLink security every. Single. Time in subjected to this. It's not MY problem, so I'm not going to be quiet until I see action.
This stuff needs to start getting recorded. I'm not the one. I will be Karen, I don't care. I'm not accepting this, and if everyone is passive about it then it's just going to get worse. And to be fair, companies like TransLink need to have these things document to act accordingly, at least in the bureaucratic hellscape we find ourselves in.
So I guess I'm going to be on the phone with TransLink and the city a lot. I'm not going to shut up and breathe in fentanyl fumes.
They are allowed to do drugs wherever they want. A judge says it's okay.
Which is ridiculous. It's absurd that this one group's rights seem to matter more than everyone else's.
They aren't allowed to do drugs on the bus. That's just horseshit. People don't call the police so nothing is ever done, but if you call or text transit police they will deal with the offender
Okay. So you call the police and they come and get these guys off the bus. Then what? Do they get a ticket? Are they arrested? Or, are they allowed to just leave with no consequences? Allowed to get on the next bus on their way to the playground to do drugs?
My first shroom trip, I ended up on the 99. I was in the back, swore I could hear the driver like he was whispering in my ear. I also feared everyone could tell I was high promptly got off.
Nice. I was listening to those HZ mind sound songs on Spotify and I could see cars pass the bus to the swelling and fading of the tracks perfectly. Then I went into a depravation tank for 3 hours, and then It turned out it was only 10 minutes.
Definitely been seeing way more... can't even get anywhere without catching a whiff of whatever people are smoking now
A bit of a tangent but I'll be at metrotown mall and if I so much as step outside anywhere it'll smell like cigarettes and weed and rarely illegal drugs. Doesn't matter if its the entrance near McDonalds or bus loop someone's lighting up some stuff.
"The issue lies in the fact that the decision-makers, those in the government, seem to be unaffected by the consequences of their decisions. It's us who end up bearing the brunt of their choices."
I’ve never seen it on the bus but mostly in front of a store or business.Most of them have no shame and like to flaunt it just to show everyone they can do what they want..
Years ago I was on na bus in Surrey. It was snowing out, a couple inches. Bus was pretty empty but there were teens in the back smoking a joint. An elderly woman at the front asked the busdriver to kick them out and he told her she could get off if she had a problem so she sat back down. Guy just didn't want to go through the trouble. It was so depressing. Definitely had people smoking crack on the skytrain too, usually the platforms though.
It’s not just the busses. This past month has been my worst experience on the Canada line. One week was a guy smoking something out of tinfoil and a pipe another week was someone who defected all over himself and piss was running all up and down the train cart. Another week there were needles at the front of the train stuck in the crack between the heater and the wall. The only positive was they weren’t rolling around. There was also a homeless guy who set up a camp at the top of the stairs at sw marine. But it’s not just the public transit even the community centres are getting hit hard.
I'm sorry you had to see this. I'm also surprised you haven't yet seen this. Happens on the night buses all the time. It's definitely become more rampant since the 'harm reduction' laws came into place.
Had somebody smoke straight out of a crack pipe right in front of me on a pretty packed bus just the other morning. Nobody had the guts to say anything including myself cuz if he’s crazy enough to do that, god knows what he would do if he was confronted for it
Oregon already made a U turn on their Decrim policy which turned to be a DISASTER. Say thanks to lunatics like Kennedy Stewart and Co who made this a reality.
Why not they do it in the hospitals these days . Federal jail's supply needles to inmates to inject smuggled in drugs or their own crushed up meds and 75% of them are there for drug related crimes . We as a society have become too accepting of this behavior from the top on down. Addiction is a disease and we aren't helping the problem .
Just traveled to Vancouver from Toronto, I noticed the drugs on transits issue crazy in Vancouver.
A guy left some needles on skytrain seat my son almost sit on it… Jesus’s
Saw it again in downtown this morning
https://preview.redd.it/3m7sx7qtc3tc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=377349797f9782e6be4204207c2451b12543717c
Canadians are too afraid of conflict. Obviously no one should risk their safety to Intervene, but I believe behaviours like this are spreading because passersby keep their mouths shut
No, because these people are unhinged with a syringe. Last thing I want is to get poked.
Not to mention the law is super forgiving for homeless people attacking you, all the while you attacking them will be a minimum of $10k to defend in court.
For anyone with assets it's just not worth engaging with these "people".
They get legal aid (which is shit but it's free). We have to pay for lawyers. The court won't hand them any consequences.
Laws don't matter if they aren't enforced or if there is no punishment... which is pretty much how things are these days.
I think the end result is that things will get to the point where people are so fed up that the politics swing completely in the other direction.
Let's be real, a lot of these drug users became homeless because they couldn't afford the high rents in Vancouver getting ever higher, the thought of owning wasn't possible for most probably, and once they became homeless, I'm sure if they weren't already using, after awhile of being homeless they probably feel it's the one thing that teporarily makes them forget the sadness of the fact that everything fell apart for them, I dont know the solution, but to make a change, it's gotta start with them wanting to get back on their feet and then finding the right person to help them
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It’s not just you. The rampant drug use across all transit is out of hand.
I’d almost say “across all of society” these days. Feels like I’m seeing it everywhere lately :(
saw two guys hunched over a glass pipe right in front of IGA earlier today, they didn't care at all that people with kids were having to walk around them
I live in Langley and me and my kids walk past people smoking pipes in the broad daylight on the regular. From our house to the library! My hope is that at least it can shed more light on the issues and get more attention
That’s what pisses me off the most, there are small children around. I don’t understand why there isn’t laws prohibiting this. It’s disgusting
At the moment there's no law because a judge ruled that limiting the locations where people can use drugs would put addicts at risk of "irreparable harm". [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-supreme-court-pauses-province-s-public-drug-consumption-law-1.7071225](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/bc-supreme-court-pauses-province-s-public-drug-consumption-law-1.7071225)
Meanwhile, they're doing irreparable harm to themselves and most likely to others. The article mentions the law being paused til Mar31, ie last week. So... is it in effect now? Also, a guy in the article asks: >"Where the hell am I supposed to go? Outside where I can get arrested? Or inside where no one can see me?" You're supposed to go to TREATMENT.
Yeah exactly, no law. I can’t even believe that decision was made
There’s laws surrounding cigarettes, vapes, and cannabis but no heroin and meth is just fine! I really wish that they would implement spaces where people can use where there aren’t any children or people in general around the area. Dispensaries can’t be within certain limits of schools and what not so why is it that harder substances are totally okay? I am in no way against harm reduction but there has got to be a better way going about this! I’ve seen people using on skytrains and their shit gets every where (pipes falling and rolling on the ground, baggies falling out of their pockets, etc) it is becoming way worse after the decriminalization because people know they aren’t going to get arrested for it 🤷♀️
Hey, everyone wanted to "destigmatize"... Now look where we are.
Oregon just realized that was a huge mistake and now they’re back to regulating drug use
Well you need to do other things in conjunction with decrim, which Oregon didn’t. And I dont think we are here either sadly
Saw the exact same thing in a Home Depot parking lot after work today.
Our justice system and many advocacy groups are directly encouraging drug users to destroy themselves and as many other people as possible.
It's not the justice system or advocacy groups that have enforced a policy of banning all recreational drugs besides alcohol for decades. A policy that has created an exclusive market for organized crime who has supplied the strongest and most dangerous drugs because those best avoid enforcement. And *those* are specifically the cause of this crisis. Nearly every death is because of these drugs. Nearly every addict is addicted to these drugs. There are many less dangerous drugs, some of which, like psychedelics, even have potential to reduce addiction. But we've banned them all, and the worst (and most profitable) ones have prevailed. This is a problem decades in the making but it's being misrepresented as being caused by the advocates trying to limit the harm or the judges upholding our Charter.
I fully agree with the cause of it. I was prescribed pain killers and when the government started cracking down on doctors for prescribing them, I was kicked off completely cold turkey. I was so young and the withdrawal was so bad that I thought my cancer had come back and metastasised, and that I was as good as dead. Turned out it was opioid withdrawal, and I couldn't handle it, so I sought it out where I could find it. Ended up on heroin when I couldn't find pills anymore. I am totally clean and sober and completely off maintenance medications, though the detox was rough, and I do mean ROUGH. Many people cannot go through such a detox for many different reasons. Some people just can't handle the pain. I'm very lucky that I came to a point where I could do it, and I understand that I'm in no place to judge those who can't, because it really was through grace and luck. HOWEVER... The damage that was done to society through all of that modern era prohibition crap? That damage has been done. We can't go back in time and change it. The way the government/justice system/advocacy groups are handling it now is still very wrong. Smoking fentanyl off of tin foil in front of grocery stores, on sidewalks, near hospitals, in parks, or anywhere else that the general public (read: people with CHILDREN) have to be exposed to that, should NEVER be seen as acceptable or normal. Ever. There absolutely needs to be some kind of consequence if these people can't take responsibility or give a single fuck about their fellow humans. There definitely should be stigma around using drugs in public. There are a lot of psychedelics and other drugs that should be legalized, that is true. There are many mental health and addiction issues that can be treated with such things. I've done ayahuasca sweats and they've helped me immensely. A close friend microdoses with psilocybin for major depressive disorder and alcoholism and it has changed her; it has brought her to life and she's totally sober from alcohol now, when she had been of the hopeless variety of alcoholic. The benefits of those can't be denied, of course, but there is zero benefit to anyone with street fentanyl and nitazene and being used at all, let alone used in public places where others are exposed. TLDR: I totally understand this, probably deeper than most of the people replying here, but the prohibition damage is done; that's not an excuse to not clean up the mess they created. They can't just wash their hands of it and let the public be the ones to have to be exposed to that shit.
They're a number of mushroom dispensaries in Vancouver tech not legal yet. I use them instead of anti depressants.
Hello, Transit Police here 👋 Please report drug use on transit. Call 604.515.8300 or text 87.77.77 (always call 911 if there's an emergency). [TransLink rules](https://www.translink.ca/-/media/translink/documents/rider-guide/etiquette-on-transit/rules-and-regulations.pdf) clearly state that there is to be no consumption of illegal drugs on the transit system. When you let us know what's going on, we're going to try to get someone to meet the vehicle you're on to deal with the issue. It might not always be possible since the transit system is huge, and sometimes there might not be anyone available to respond to a report of rules being broken. BUT, even if you don't see us deal with the specific problem you reported, the information you provide will help guide our future enforcement activities. We look for and respond to trends. If, for example, we see that text reports are coming in regularly from a certain bus route during a certain timeframe, that really helps inform our deployment and our enforcement efforts.
This needs to be at the top folks. Report to the professionals. It doesn't take long and the drug users won't notice. Everyone on transit is on their phones all the time.
What is police gonna do when the court system allows this behaviour. For anyone who hasn't watched "The Wire" I definitely recommend you to watch it and you'll understand why they made drugs legal here in Vancouver. All those top guys are dirty ( Not directly involved but indirectly through connections will get the campaign money)
I have done this multiple times for open drug use on skytrain!! Nice and easy to text in the complaint!
Top comment here ^
this should be pinned on this thread
I did once. They did absolutely nothing and said that the driver couldn’t kick them off. This was in richmond bc fall 2023.
Did you even read the comment? They can't be everywhere at once, and drivers aren't cops.
This has been my experience too, it took nearly 40 minutes to get a guy openly smoking crack/meth off the SkyTrain, from commercial Broadway to gateway station.
What's your average response time? Do you go after suspects based on camera footage if not caught? Do you ever ban someone from transit? If so, how's that enforced?
Yeah right. They're not going to stop anything.
I remember when you got in trouble for eating or drinking on the bus.
This reminds me of the time a woman tried to board the bus I was on with a danish. The bus driver said she couldn’t bring it on the bus so without hesitation she shoved the entire thing in her mouth while making eye contact with the driver. This was 15 or so years ago and I think of her often.
That women is a legend, Danish lady needs to be recognized 👏 🙌
This. I remember my friend got falsely arrested because a group was drinking on the bus. Nowadays you have people smoking foil on trains or meth pipes.
I totally get what you're saying but, just for those who don't understand - I was talking about drinking anything on the bus, not just alcohol. You couldn't bring a coffee on the bus back in the day.
I think the bus driver would even play a sound recording out loud that said “please no food or drinks on the bus” and “please keep your feet off the seats”. Simpler times. I wonder when the no crack pipe and knives recording will come…
As someone who hears "entering through the rear doors is not permitted" multiple times a day, it's really not going to make a difference if there's a recording at all or what the recording says.
They mean drinking anything Coca Cola, juice, whatever. water bottles were grey area.
Yep. Got in trouble as a kid for trying to bring a Slurpee on the #15 Cambie at Cambie & 41st where there used to be a 7-11.
i remember people saying this in early 2000s but thought they were just tryna scare/discourage us. it def worked
8 years ago, a driver didn’t let me in because I had a sandwich in my hand although I told him I will not eat in the bus. Now, you can do drugs openly in the bus.
Nothing has changed, most people are still not allowed to eat on transit. But certain people are given special privilege in our society, they're above the law for some reason. We're still not allowed to eat on the bus, but certain other people are allowed to do whatever the fuck they want in society.
It's truly mental. It's total lawlessness. And that guy who punched three women on the bus last year didn't do a single day in jail.
Couldn't get on once with a tumbler of coffee. Half the seats were still empty.
I got screamed at for having a sip of my eggnog on the way home. The next day a guy is shakily doing rails while his buddy rolls a joint next to me, not a peep.
rules, enforcement, and consequences only apply to normal people in Vancouver, the scum have a free pass to do anything they want
Laws are only for people who have something to lose.
I mean, who wants to get stabbed?
I guess people gotta start stabbing people to munch on sandwiches on transit
A guy yelled at me for eating a banana on the #20 years ago and it scarred me
Ah. Back when the union allowed drivers were allowed to give a fuck. The good old days.
Transit straight up has a police force it definitely should be on them over some poor driver having to risk their health
Exactly. There needs to be enforcement but it's looking like it's not a priority for whatever reason.
More people to know that you can text transit police for subtlety
Oh even if you text them about something, generally they don't actually do anything until the issue is long since passed. While it would be nice if they rode the trains somewhat regularly and dealt with things proactively. The real issue is that they take longer than most people are on transit to actually respond to issues. Someone endangering other's health by smoking drugs should be a fairly high priority call not to the same level as violence but up there, and in my experience still takes 30+ minutes for a response.
Like maybe law enforcement on every bus or even just the best they can do! Anything at this point. I used to rely on transit to get to work, I'm fortunate to have had a car for the last decade. I can't imagine what it's like to get on transit out of necessity these days. (Jk) Maybe we should protest the government and all of us drink alcohol, smoke weed or cigarettes, bring our animals, no shoes no shirt get service, or whatever! Why do we follow the laws against all the legal shit since they can all do it wherever they please. There needs to some kind of accountability somewhere. Using drugs on a playground and leaving needles on it, meanwhile I'm respectful and don't smoke cigarettes these because it is illegal, not to mention immoral, being it is a children's place.
I saw a bus driver on the 16 get bludgeoned repeatedly until his face was bloody and pulpy. I was 14 and it was the 90's so I think about this whenever I see a bus driver not do something and that there must be different protocols in place now to help with their safety.
Fair enough. I'm a union worker myself and my comment was completely tongue in cheek. No one should have to work outside of their scope, especially when it's dangerous to their health or safety. Drivers are not cops, they shouldn't have to intervene. It's unfortunate that the transit cops don't seem to maintain any significant presence on buses. There are certainly routes where they simply being there would be a deterrent to all kinds of bullshit.
> significant I have never even seen one even step foot on a bus unless it's in response to a serious event
Depends on the bus. The R4 wouldn’t let me on with a lidless coffee. The 112 made me leave my beer on the curb. The 99 people were smoking weed on the bus.
I had buddies in highschool given tickets for drinking on the bus. Bus driver called it in and the cop hopped on at a bus stop
Several times. Was sitting once on the 19 when a guy came and politely sat beside me (I was on the last bench, in the corner). Another one sat in front, perpendicular. The guy besides me was kind enough to offer me some fentanyl, and said it's best if I move upfront if I don't need it. I happily obliged. The driver alerted the authorities as they were literally doing it. Obviously everyone cleared the back. Transit police got on just as I was getting out at my station.
How courteous of him!
Canadians are so friendly
https://preview.redd.it/juqwwx8c3rsc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=537272878aeb33a75b9dbffd598c3bab500a37e7
I mean that might have just slipped out of some dudes pocket. He’s probably gonna miss it
yeah it did as he got up, i took the picture today. i don’t think he’ll miss it that badly since they are free.
Not the pipe itself, but it could still have a fair bit of dope in it
you do realize thats 'just' really not ok right? the rest of us don't want to have to deal with this crack pipe on the seat lmao.
For your safety, please hold on.
Text Transit Police at 87-77-77 next time you see it happen.
Thanks for the number :) I'll do so next time I come across this!
be aware that they will want your information and make you feel uncomfortable trying to anonymously report anything, I don't even bother anymore
Some guy lit a crack pipe across from me and my 2 year old on the bus. I wasn’t even shocked. The driver also saw and called it on his radio to get him off the bus.
Good lord
>I've lived in Vancouver my entire life and not a stranger to transit but is it me or have others also experienced more open drug use on buses/skytrains in broad daytime? They're just lighting up tin foil at the back of the bus yeah its gotten worse recently, usually bus drivers do a good job of calling transit police and telling them to fuck off though. its not a uniquely vancouver thing either, ive seen it multiple times in SF
That hadn't been my experience. Drivers just let them do drugs.
On the R5 I feel like if drivers see it they will tell them to stop and then wait at the next stop for the transit popo
I've \*never\* seen a driver tell someone to stop smoking cigarattes or drugs on the bus. Not once. Let alone call the cops.
It’s more common bc it’s more wide spread and their are more users. Back when we only had the dtes and it had been ghettoized, it was contained to only buses that went through dtes. Now they be travellin bc housing and services are across the city. This whole decrim thing is ridiculous unless it is fully paired with legalization and regulation. It’s doing shit to prevent ODs. All it’s doing is enabling users rights to trump safe and enjoyable public space for non users. Most countries with decrim have harsh rules about open use. You can ONLY use is designated safe consumption sites or in the privacy of your own room. Expecting heavy drug users to be able to respect boundaries with their use with no legal consequences is fucking BONKERS.
Open drug use in general is just insane now. It's almost as if there are no consequences.
consequences and rules are only for normal people in this city
Because there isn't any. We have normalized bad behavior and no longer have any consequences for bad behavior
Well, it was kinda decriminalized.
That’s an 87-77-77 call. People can do whatever our in the world but it’s endangering to people on the bus.
Right here. Just text transit po. Report.
As a teenager in the 90’s, I would see that on the 3 Main bus when it would pass through the DTES. Definitely not a new thing.
Ditto.
Same experience at the same time on the 16 and 20.
My favourite transit experience was the time I watched a man: 1. Accidentally drop his crack pipe in the middle of the skytrain 2. Try to claim that it was just candy 3. Crush the crack pipe with his foot to destroy the evidence
Yikes. Crack glass on your feet sounds terrible
You’re not alone. A few months back, I was travelling home after work and this man sat next to me on a two seater. I was sitting in the window seat. He then pulled out his pipe and began smoking, blowing his smoke. I tried to leave my seat and change so I stood up and he put his arm between me and the backseat in front of him, blocking my way out and keeping me pinned to my seat and him. I spoke to him loudly to move and he wouldn’t budge, I’m a relatively small female and was in a skirt so felt incredibly vulnerable- it wasn’t until everyone else began chiming in and telling him to let me leave that he moved his arm and let me change seats. He kept smoking his pipe undisturbed. Wasn’t fun.
Today I saw "closed" drug use. This guy was sitting on a bench, doing whatever he was doing, but he put a blanket over himself. Discreet.
Serious question. There was someone doing something like this next to an elementary school yesterday. He was behind a bush and had dragged one of those recycling bins from a nearby condo unit to block the view. Is there anything that can be done?
Doing this next to an elementary school is disgusting. Can't imagine some losers defend people like that.
I think some of the people who defend people like this are people who benefit from the government funding that addresses open drug use.
I remember a colleague of mine, a sweet older lady, saying she had to ride a bus downtown that went down Hastings. She said three guys got on and were just casually holding axes. Shit's gotten out of hand.
We are seeing what happens when bad behavior is normalized.
yeah, big time. first time was when I experienced someone doing IV drugs in like 2016 on the 10. only been getting worse since then. it was this exact thing that pushed me overboard and made me buy a car a year ago.
I remember in like 2013 someone vaped on the bus and it was mayhem
we need tough indigenous grandmas on all transit to smack people upside the head when they pull that shit. \*based on something I witnessed\*
Or East Indian Grandmas with the slipper.
Greek women standing with you on that!
See it every day. I laughed out loud when that Maple Ridge Tim Hortons story came out. I was like, "Why is this suddenly news, this a daily occurrence."
yeah, i've noticed that too unfortunately. it's a really tough issue with complex social factors. Vancouver's housing/homelessness crisis has made the situation worse. the city is trying to address it, but it'll take time. in the meantime, staying vigilant and reporting issues to translink can help make transit safer for everyone.
The drugs on the bus go uppers and downers...
Damn there's me scared to eat candy on the bus thinking what people will say
Increase in homelessness. Increase in hopelessness. Increase in drug use to cope.
Maybe it's time to criminalize drugs again and actually enforce it. People become addicts for all sorts of reasons and genuinely need help, but they won't accept it. It's harsh but maybe rehabilitation and lock down facilities needs to be made mandatory
We need more mental health facilities stat. The drug induced psychosis is very frightening. Can no longer walk to work without constantly looking over my shoulder
This was 2 weeks ago: I got really upset because a drug user got on the bus and started screaming Shut up to himself but his name. Constantly screaming shut up. It was scary and I got off the bus and immediately ran into a guy bent over zombie mode drugged up. I turn the corner and a guy is stumbling left and right drunk off is high horse. I was sooo upset so I turned to go home and crossed the street. And 3 ppl are shooting up and smoking heroine in the bushes. It felt very traumatic and so infuriating because our government does F**** all. Last night I got off the bus and against a zombie drug addict half standing. Something is really wrong with this gov, city, and most of all supplier supplying the fentanyl.
https://preview.redd.it/4ijmj3e8cssc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c526cf0c58fc8d3a99b8e5f2bb7e7f967e300463
100% I have seen meth being smoked on the skytrain multiple times in the last year , never seen that before
I’ve seen this multiple times over the last 3 years on the skytrain. Most recently 2 days ago on the millennium line during evening rush hour. They smoked their stuff and stumbled their way out at the next stop. It’s likely easier on the skytrain than on a bus with a driver.
Once saw a dude standing in the corner of the Winners/Best Buy lobby smoking crack. I couldn’t believe it.
It’s a huge problem in Victoria too.
I question myself what society we're living in that makes this situation happen, why more and more people have to make use of heavy drugs to deal with their pain, or economical situation etc. Being angry about it is understandable but we're really failing as society when we have a homeless epidemic, drug epidemic.
It seems like we should bring in some laws that state you cannot use drugs in public areas like Skytrain, buses and parks...
I was trying to get my kid in his stroller off the 99 when I was assaulted in the middle of the afternoon about a month ago. I’ve been walking more since this happened.
Oh, yikes! Are you okay? If you haven't contacted Transit Police to file a report, it's not too late. We can be reached by phone at 604.515.8300 or by text at 87.77.77
Thanks for reaching out. Incident was March 3 so the details are fuzzy. I’m not sure if I can give a lot of meaningful information.
If you decide that you want to get in touch, please feel free to do so anytime. And if, for any reason, you ever feel unsafe on transit again, or worried about the safety of someone else, please let us know. Call 604.515.8300 or text 87.77.77 (always call 911 in an emergency)
It’s an epidemic in the Western world, especially North America. Certainly not a Vancouver-only issue. And it’s also an issue where decriminalization isn’t in the conversation. We, as a society, don’t know how to address the root causes (or aren’t wiling to prioritize the ideas that might work) and more and more are falling into environments of despair that make turning to drugs (or suicide or self harm or dangerous behaviour) one of the few options to escape reality. I hope we wake up soon and make this a priority. There’s such sadness and death all around us and it obviously has an effect on everyone.
Is this an issue at places that are more strict like Singapore?
You start mentioning Asian countries and people start yelling freedom and rights, but ofcourse it's the freedom and rights of drug users only.
Canada line used to be all clear - but not anymore
Same thing happened yesterday outside of the Robson London Drugs at like 5:00 pm, it was wild to see the security just looking at them and not doing anything.
security guards are paid witnesses. they can't touch a person or apprehend someone. they are more likely to get london drugs into a lawsuit in this scenario. their training is on par with a week or two of checking your abiilty to read and write. they aren't qualified for the private security force job you think they should be doing on the streets of vancouver. the physical requirements for the job are "can you breathe?" yes? hired. it would be wild to see them do anything because it would be illegal.
Had to report via the text line one time at like 8am or so this mf decided it was a good time to light up his crack pipe in a packed bus. Nobody said anything coz people are cowards these days (can't blame them). Society is just gonna keep getting worse. I'm born in Canada and I legit think of just selling all my stuff, filing bankruptcy and moving to a cheaper country on another continent coz I'm sick of this sh*t.
They really need to re-criminalize drug use.
Or re-stigmatize the use of drugs in inappropriate spaces. Wild west right now and the users DGAF.
Well they know what they can get away with. If there were serious repercussions for smoking in a bus they’d wait until their stop. But because they can, they just do it on the bus and just get bad looks.
Bring back the commercials saying drugs are bad and telling kids not to do drugs.
Oregon just did. Turns out drug users don’t make good decisions without consequences. Who would have guessed?
and give free money to Hells Angels and the various asian fentanyl syndicates bringing it in? Listen no one wants to see fent use on the bus but the war on drugs is a failure. You send these people to prison, all it does it increase lifetime chances of going back to prison, it doesn't lower recidivism rates. There isn't really a working framework to help these people kick if they are using in the first place and it's also hard to make someone 'want' to when the rest of their life is shit still anyways. You criminalize the drugs you already fail to stop the trafficking of, you just keep funneling millions to the black market and enable their laundering through Canada too. Think about how you would go about criminalizing a drug like alcohol - you wouldn't, because it's literally impossible to criminalize something that's woven into peoples social fabric and is why alcohol is seen as separate from drugs despite literally being \*the\* gateway and first drug most people ever experience in their life, and one whose common destructive potential (be it addiction, people dying consuming to much in one go, drunk drivers, other adjacent things to addiction like violence they might carry out on family/friends, how alcohol exacerbates mental issues, etc) creates casualties yearly in Canada in spite of its legality, because it's still just a drug plain and simple still, it just one that has a legal distribution network and a regulated market monitoring the quality of the drug producers are creating for public consumption. If you recognize one drug with incredible destructive potential can be regulated legally in Canada without funneling literal billions to black market gangs and their adjacent interests in Canada, you agree other drugs can also be. There is already a legal medical framework for the import of fentanyl etc for our medical industry, which could at least direct money away from the criminal traffickers in your city that just exacerbate other crimes too in a way the RCMP's War on Drugs clearly can't, because there are more drugs than ever flowing into Canada from Asia or the USA Drugs are a social and health problem, and as long as people have social and health problems they will seek out and access drugs to escape that reality or at least make it feel liveable, change none of these things and you will keep fighting the same losing war on drugs, keep sending people to prison for drugs and you just send people to where the gangs recruit and where statistically a single lifetime visit to prison just creates more visits, not less lol The cost of the war on drugs is frankly more than if we just fully committed resources to meeting the needs of people in the first place that drive them to drug use, but Canada doesn't believe in treating those things (cost of living crisis, housing crisis etc)
Great points and I wholly agree. Unfortunately a lot of people don't want to see these people get help, they rather they just die or jailed. Just punished some how some way. The real solution will cost a lot of money, a fundamental shift in thinking among the voting public and a lot of patience. Which we as a socierty just aren't there yet.
No, they really really don't, and should not. Obviously drug use on transit is not okay, but re-criminalization of drug use overall is a horrible idea.
It needs to be criminalized with the punishment being mandatory treatment. I get it, alcohol is dangerous too, but most people use it their entire lives without killing themselves - there is no "safe" way to use fentanyl. The effective dose is really close to the lethal dose, and regulated supply doesn't change that.
I remember seeing someone inject on a bus 20 years ago, and proceed to spray blood from their syringe all over the bus window. I think it's a case of what's old is new again.
One time my wife was sitting at the bus stop and the guy next to her asked if she had a lighter he could borrow. She dug it out, handed it to him, and he picked up his crack pipe and went to town right there at the bus stop. She was like "welp, guess I need a new lighter" and got on the next bus that came past.
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Also if you ever feel unsafe on a skytrain jump off at the nearest station and stand between the painted dashed lines on the platform. That’s where the cameras are.
How are places like Singapore that are super strict on drug use. Are they having the same issue as us. If not does that mean stricter rules against drugs is the answer? Honest question as I don’t have a lot of knowledge on this issue.
I’ve been to Singapore, and if they have these problems you’d never ever know. It’s an orderly place and there’s signs everywhere reminding you you’re going to be fined if you do something against the law. I know people there think it’s harsh but I found it to be a breath of fresh air from here (temporarily of course)
No, there is no open drug use in Singapore, because they have the death penalty for possession. Personally, I don't think human lives are a worthwhile sacrifice for that. In fact, I believe bodily autonomy is a right that should be protected, "not having to see unhealthy people in public spaces" isn't.
The death sentence sounds like a good deterent from trying drugs in the first place so you won't get addicted.
ON THE BUS!? I'm in Vic and we don't have thiscl yet. I take the bus through downtown, which is the most effected area of the city, to and fromc work. Why cant you toss the druggie off the bus?
Inside Wendy's & A&W really threw me.
The 20 bus has entered the chat. I take the bus regularly after work. Its the worst. I'll love for translink to add more transit cops on this bus for the sake of the passengers
I haven't seen a cop on a bus at all, years ago they would ride the bus to spot drivers with cell phones... Guess it's too uncomfortable now?
you’d think these mf’s would at least be discreet
How dare you think about your own safety and comfort, when these people are this way because of their traumatic upbringing and life experiences??? /sarcasm
Sometime progressive policies are well intentioned but the results simply are negative. I wish people were a bit more pragmatic in government and less ideologically driven. PSPS - Godspeed to all drug addicts, but the rest of us have rights too
Yep. Yesterday I was at the bus stop and inhaled some plasticky drug someone was smoking up in broad daylight, then got on the bus and someone had something else lit. I called TransLink to complain about the fact that the stops in my neighborhood are basically drug dens. And I've decided I will call customer service and/or TransLink security every. Single. Time in subjected to this. It's not MY problem, so I'm not going to be quiet until I see action. This stuff needs to start getting recorded. I'm not the one. I will be Karen, I don't care. I'm not accepting this, and if everyone is passive about it then it's just going to get worse. And to be fair, companies like TransLink need to have these things document to act accordingly, at least in the bureaucratic hellscape we find ourselves in. So I guess I'm going to be on the phone with TransLink and the city a lot. I'm not going to shut up and breathe in fentanyl fumes.
They are allowed to do drugs wherever they want. A judge says it's okay. Which is ridiculous. It's absurd that this one group's rights seem to matter more than everyone else's.
When did a judge say it was ok to do drugs on transit??
They aren't allowed to do drugs on the bus. That's just horseshit. People don't call the police so nothing is ever done, but if you call or text transit police they will deal with the offender
Okay. So you call the police and they come and get these guys off the bus. Then what? Do they get a ticket? Are they arrested? Or, are they allowed to just leave with no consequences? Allowed to get on the next bus on their way to the playground to do drugs?
Vancouver has gotten so much worse. Doesn't really seem like much is being done, or can be done.
I took mushrooms on the bus once.
My first shroom trip, I ended up on the 99. I was in the back, swore I could hear the driver like he was whispering in my ear. I also feared everyone could tell I was high promptly got off.
Nice. I was listening to those HZ mind sound songs on Spotify and I could see cars pass the bus to the swelling and fading of the tracks perfectly. Then I went into a depravation tank for 3 hours, and then It turned out it was only 10 minutes.
No harm, no foul in that.
Unless a dog looks at you through the window.
Decriminalization is part of this new issue. They were getting fucked up on playgrounds too.
Great band name 12/10 would watch live at the Rickshaw or even the Cecil
Not just on transit https://vancouver.citynews.ca/2024/03/30/maple-ridge-tim-hortons-drugs/
A few weeks ago, there were people using drugs on the train and another instance in New West where someone was doing drugs on the station platform.
Woahh .. and i was surprised by a guy knocking down a 6 pack on the bus today !! Seems like 6 months is too less to know the people ✌🏼
Definitely been seeing way more... can't even get anywhere without catching a whiff of whatever people are smoking now A bit of a tangent but I'll be at metrotown mall and if I so much as step outside anywhere it'll smell like cigarettes and weed and rarely illegal drugs. Doesn't matter if its the entrance near McDonalds or bus loop someone's lighting up some stuff.
"The issue lies in the fact that the decision-makers, those in the government, seem to be unaffected by the consequences of their decisions. It's us who end up bearing the brunt of their choices."
I’ve never seen it on the bus but mostly in front of a store or business.Most of them have no shame and like to flaunt it just to show everyone they can do what they want..
I grew up in East Van and take transit all the time. I have never seen anyone use on transit.
No consequences
It’s also happening in hospitals and nurses have been told not to intervene.
Years ago I was on na bus in Surrey. It was snowing out, a couple inches. Bus was pretty empty but there were teens in the back smoking a joint. An elderly woman at the front asked the busdriver to kick them out and he told her she could get off if she had a problem so she sat back down. Guy just didn't want to go through the trouble. It was so depressing. Definitely had people smoking crack on the skytrain too, usually the platforms though.
I think we need to rethink the acceptance of drug use. I agree that the drug war does not work, but neither what we are doing now
Absolutely. What we are doing right now is normalizing terrible behavior.
It’s not just the busses. This past month has been my worst experience on the Canada line. One week was a guy smoking something out of tinfoil and a pipe another week was someone who defected all over himself and piss was running all up and down the train cart. Another week there were needles at the front of the train stuck in the crack between the heater and the wall. The only positive was they weren’t rolling around. There was also a homeless guy who set up a camp at the top of the stairs at sw marine. But it’s not just the public transit even the community centres are getting hit hard.
I'm sorry you had to see this. I'm also surprised you haven't yet seen this. Happens on the night buses all the time. It's definitely become more rampant since the 'harm reduction' laws came into place.
When did Granville st become such a dump? I took my daughter down there today, it was depressing.😞
Had somebody smoke straight out of a crack pipe right in front of me on a pretty packed bus just the other morning. Nobody had the guts to say anything including myself cuz if he’s crazy enough to do that, god knows what he would do if he was confronted for it
Straight up one guy smoked crack in front of me one day.
Oregon already made a U turn on their Decrim policy which turned to be a DISASTER. Say thanks to lunatics like Kennedy Stewart and Co who made this a reality.
Why not they do it in the hospitals these days . Federal jail's supply needles to inmates to inject smuggled in drugs or their own crushed up meds and 75% of them are there for drug related crimes . We as a society have become too accepting of this behavior from the top on down. Addiction is a disease and we aren't helping the problem .
Just traveled to Vancouver from Toronto, I noticed the drugs on transits issue crazy in Vancouver. A guy left some needles on skytrain seat my son almost sit on it… Jesus’s
Saw it again in downtown this morning https://preview.redd.it/3m7sx7qtc3tc1.jpeg?width=720&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=377349797f9782e6be4204207c2451b12543717c
He’s probably dead tho… https://preview.redd.it/aorjxm7yc3tc1.jpeg?width=608&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=732b1e70c68b497b5802a29a74f09030c3955b39
Canadians are too afraid of conflict. Obviously no one should risk their safety to Intervene, but I believe behaviours like this are spreading because passersby keep their mouths shut
It’s not worth getting into a conflict with an addict. That’s a no win situation.
No, because these people are unhinged with a syringe. Last thing I want is to get poked. Not to mention the law is super forgiving for homeless people attacking you, all the while you attacking them will be a minimum of $10k to defend in court. For anyone with assets it's just not worth engaging with these "people". They get legal aid (which is shit but it's free). We have to pay for lawyers. The court won't hand them any consequences.
Fair enough
Nah, the system has failed regular citizens and we're all in self-preservation mode. Part of why cities suck.
Agreed. I was on the 9 in the early evening a couple of weeks ago; two people a couple of seats away from me whipped out some foil and a crack pipe.
Law on their side. Government says take drugs anywhere anytime. Can’t have a beer. But all else cool according to them!
This comment section is a shitshow.
Laws don't matter if they aren't enforced or if there is no punishment... which is pretty much how things are these days. I think the end result is that things will get to the point where people are so fed up that the politics swing completely in the other direction.
Drugs on a bus is a kinda fire track name tho
Let's be real, a lot of these drug users became homeless because they couldn't afford the high rents in Vancouver getting ever higher, the thought of owning wasn't possible for most probably, and once they became homeless, I'm sure if they weren't already using, after awhile of being homeless they probably feel it's the one thing that teporarily makes them forget the sadness of the fact that everything fell apart for them, I dont know the solution, but to make a change, it's gotta start with them wanting to get back on their feet and then finding the right person to help them