California bid to create legal drug injection sites advances

With 110,000 deaths in the US last year, this is an amazing move. It works in Zurich and other cities.

And it’s going to fail miserably in California

ridiculous. lets make a "safe" space to do illegal drugs?

Just like those free "safe smoking kits" that Biden administration said didnt have crack pipes in them.

(hint- they did)

As compassionate as ever, Bass.

The majority of those on skid row are from outside California. 20% are veterans, many with PTSD.

Requiring treatment for such skittish people is like requiring a purchase before one enters a store.

Ensure them a safe environment, let them see what life is like for those who've kicked drugs, and many will come around.

“We know that we are experiencing a crisis of overdose deaths, and these are preventable," said Democratic Sen. Scott Wiener. “This is one way to help keep people safe and to actually help people get into treatment.”

All other actions have FAILED, why not TRY this one!!?

to save them from dying if they overdose,

Why would you do this?

to actually help people get into treatment

Waste of time and money, these people are beyond the point of possible recovery.

BC

Last year, an estimated 2,200 people died from drug overdoses in the province, more than a 20% increase over 2020's death toll of around 1,700, CBC

It's been over 70 years of drugs related deaths and crimes and so far not a single plan of action has put an end to it, it is addictive, it is cruel, it is savage but yet people get sucked into it everyday.

The so called experts have failed every step of the way, jails are filled with thousands of inmates, people are dying on the streets and in their homes from overdose, law enforcement are overwhelmed and doing the best they can and yet the situation is getting worse.

I hope that this will at least save some lives so they can recover and get better once they are able to get out of it's influence.

Legalise drugs but ban guns. Sure have their priorities straight.

Well who am I to judge.

I am waiting for a similar facility that offers free shots of Jack Daniel's to alcoholics, or free smut and tissues to internet porn addicts. Don't want to sound cruel, but there is little point in saving someones' life only to have them OD the next day in a back alley.

How about this; remove addicted people from the streets and put them into mandatory treatment. Waiting for an addict to voluntarily decide to get treated is futile. Leaving addicts on the street is cruel to everyone. You need to remove them physicallyl and psychologically from their problems. I would say counselling in a drug free environment, perhaps in the countryside where they can get some fresh air and sunshine. A little structure to life- wake up, a bit of farm work, hearty lunch of food produced by the inmates, then afternoon counselling/treatment sessions.

As compassionate as ever, Bass.

Always.

The majority of those on skid row are from outside California. 20% are veterans, many with PTSD.

If you want to believe that, you can. I’m from California and I’m not buying it. Also, even if it were true, the numbers are rising and add to that more and more homeless and illegals are winding up on the streets of LA and their solution is more drugs? No wonder people continue to leave that lost state.

https://usabynumbers.com/cities-with-highest-homeless-rate/

https://khn.org/morning-breakout/homeless-deaths-soar-in-la-county-driven-by-overdoses/

Newsom is the cancer of LA that needs to be cut out.

Requiring treatment for such skittish people is like requiring a purchase before one enters a store. 

Ensure them a safe environment, let them see what life is like for those who've kicked drugs, and many will come around.

That will never happen.

Leftist dystopia.

California bid to create legal drug injection sites advances:

Have Californians succumbed to drug abuse?

Would US want to relegate itself to China's dark/sad old days when British lured many Chinese to indulge in opium smoking & end up becoming virtual zombies?

Unthinkable..

There has to be a better way to deal with this addiction problems.

USA is rapidly becoming extremely unpleasant.

Thank goodness i don't live There anymore !

Great movies but absolutely nothing else !

@venze I was thinking of same lol. History does repeats itself

to save them from dying if they overdose,

Why would you do this?

Why wouldn’t you?

Why wouldn’t you?

Because it's not my problem and... I guess you can figure out the rest of reasons yourself.

There has to be a better way to deal with this addiction problems.

Addiction is a medical / psychiatric problem. Jailing people for simple drug use is counter productive.

Despite how some wish to paint California, drug addiction statistics for the state are middle of the road for the US as a whole.

Here is a chart of deaths per 100,000 population from drug overdose by state. At 15 deaths per 100,000 California is 38 out of 51 ( counting Washington DC as a state). The highest state is West Virginia at 52.8 deaths per 100,000. The lowest is Nebraska with 8.7 per 100,000.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/686415/top-ten-leading-states-concerning-death-rate-of-drug-overdose-in-the-us/

Another site rates states on measures of drug use and addiction, law enforcement and drug heath / rehab matters. Once again West Virginia has the worst drug problem while California comes in at 29 out of 51.

https://wallethub.com/edu/drug-use-by-state/35150

This site shows the composition of homeless in the US. You can see veterans are a single digit percentage of the total homeless population and that has been consistently so for the past 25 years. The surprise is that the highest rate of homeless is among native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, and the state with the second highest rate of homelessness is Hawaii. New York has the highest rate of homelessness.

https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness-2021/

Here is another interesting report on homelessness, drug addiction and economic factors involved. Interesting that LA's infamous Skid Row has its origins in the 19th Century and by the second decade of the 20th Century was an established area for homeless people, mostly white laborers sanctioned as such by the City of LA. Indeed the city forced all the different groups that aided the homeless to locate there so the problem was confined to one area of the city. Three quotes stand out from the article. For the first quote remember that the state closed all the mental hospitals in 1967, turning the mentally ill out on the street but failed to provide community services for them. The result was mentally ill with no shelter, no treatment and no services.

"The L.A. County jail system became the de facto mental health institution and homeless shelter for mentally ill homeless people, forcing released inmates into a pattern that was difficult to escape"

Once you have an arrest record you are often no longer eligible for public services to allow you to transition out of homelessness and drug addiction.

"Los Angeles now has the fewest number of housing units per adult of any major American city"

"Airbnb, which launched in 2008, is reportedly responsible for pulling more than 11,000 housing units from the long-term rental market in 2014 alone. In 2018, the Los Angeles City Council adopted its Home-Sharing Ordinance, which was supposed to regulate the market. Councilmember Nithya Raman introduced a motion in August of this year to enforce the ordinance after discovering more than one-third of short-term rentals are operating illegally."

https://laist.com/news/housing-homelessness/understanding-homelessness-city-los-angeles

Because it's not my problem and... I guess you can figure out the rest of reasons yourself.

Fine. If it’s not your problem I don’t see why we need to hear your opinion about it. That way we all win.