4 ms·

Letting people shoot up on your porch was the only thing they could think of to keep housing prices in check

cjk2 2y ago
That's pretty funny but sad. I'm not even in BC or the US but I had to remove the light bulb from my porch to stop people shooting up in there and poking the syringes in my plants. I still have "HIV yucca" as it's known now. It's totally illegal here but it didn't stop people doing it. Want to fix this? Start with the problems in society that lead to it.
- tomp 2y ago
  What “problems in society” lead to this? Humans are infinitely adaptable and we live on a hedonic treadmill. Regardless of material and/or social circumstances, there’s gonna be a subset of people who will continue to find existence a terrifying suffering, and will seek escape, including drugs. No society in history has fixed the first problem. But we can keep negative externalities minimal by outlawing public use of drugs.
  - cjk2 2y ago
    I don't have an answer and I agree with you with the latter (so does HIV yucca)
    - SomeoneFromCA 2y ago
      What is HIV yucca?
      - cjk2 2y ago
        See parent comment. HIV yucca is the yucca plant which friendly heroin users left their needles in on my porch.
  - tonyarkles 2y ago
    Ok, I’ll bite a little. I’m not from BC but live two provinces east from there and we have similar problems but not nearly as bad. One of the causes of this is inter-generational trauma and the chain reaction that this causes. In my province a significant fraction of homeless and drug-addicted people are First Nations (for non-Canadians: aboriginal, “Indians” although we don’t use that term much). Our government has done horrific things to this population; significantly worse historically, although some of it still persists today. Here’s how the chain reaction persists: - a child in the 70s was forced to go to a Residential School where they were separated from their parents and culture and frequently endured physical and sexual abuse. - that person leaves school broken. They have complex PTSD and no supports. They start doing drugs to forget the pain. They get pregnant. - maybe not right away, or maybe immediately at birth, the government takes their child and places him or her into the foster care system. Some of the parents in the foster care system are great, many are not and treat it as a way to get additional income every month while doing the bare minimum to raise the child. Many children in the foster care system suffer their own abuse. - To manage the PTSD from being in the foster care system without significant mental health support they start doing drugs… Repeat ad nauseum. I have several friends (saints, really) who work in the Ministry of Social Services who genuinely care and want to help change things by providing support etc but the ministry is perpetually understaffed and underfunded. Many go into that line of work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to make a difference, and after a few years end up bitter and jaded. While I partly agree with you on the hedonic treadmill part, it does also change the externalities of the situation. Someone who has a home (apartment, homeless shelter, whatever) might still choose drugs but they’re probably not going to choose to sleep under a ragged blanket on a park bench. It’s an incredibly complex problem. What happens to someone who uses drugs in public when that is criminalized? They can be fined (which they have no means to pay) or they can go to jail for a bit. So now they’re in jail and meet more people who come from similar situations. Our prisons are also full of drugs (how?!?) and are definitely not the place to finally have a chance to work on your mental health. People then get released with new friends and more PTSD. I don’t have the answers by any means, but around here at least our government was responsible for a huge amount of the damage that was done years ago and continues to be responsible for perpetuating its effects.
    - 2y ago
- iraqmtpizza 2y ago
  that which led to it. meaning the lack of purpose, employment, community, moral expectations, religion, and connection with their ancestors and nature
coffeebeqn 2y ago
If only. West coast housing prices have been on a tear for the last 20 years at least

cjk2 2y ago

That's pretty funny but sad. I'm not even in BC or the US but I had to remove the light bulb from my porch to stop people shooting up in there and poking the syringes in my plants. I still have "HIV yucca" as it's known now. It's totally illegal here but it didn't stop people doing it. Want to fix this? Start with the problems in society that lead to it.

tomp 2y ago
What “problems in society” lead to this? Humans are infinitely adaptable and we live on a hedonic treadmill. Regardless of material and/or social circumstances, there’s gonna be a subset of people who will continue to find existence a terrifying suffering, and will seek escape, including drugs. No society in history has fixed the first problem. But we can keep negative externalities minimal by outlawing public use of drugs.
- cjk2 2y ago
  I don't have an answer and I agree with you with the latter (so does HIV yucca)
  - SomeoneFromCA 2y ago
    What is HIV yucca?
    - cjk2 2y ago
      See parent comment. HIV yucca is the yucca plant which friendly heroin users left their needles in on my porch.
- tonyarkles 2y ago
  Ok, I’ll bite a little. I’m not from BC but live two provinces east from there and we have similar problems but not nearly as bad. One of the causes of this is inter-generational trauma and the chain reaction that this causes. In my province a significant fraction of homeless and drug-addicted people are First Nations (for non-Canadians: aboriginal, “Indians” although we don’t use that term much). Our government has done horrific things to this population; significantly worse historically, although some of it still persists today. Here’s how the chain reaction persists: - a child in the 70s was forced to go to a Residential School where they were separated from their parents and culture and frequently endured physical and sexual abuse. - that person leaves school broken. They have complex PTSD and no supports. They start doing drugs to forget the pain. They get pregnant. - maybe not right away, or maybe immediately at birth, the government takes their child and places him or her into the foster care system. Some of the parents in the foster care system are great, many are not and treat it as a way to get additional income every month while doing the bare minimum to raise the child. Many children in the foster care system suffer their own abuse. - To manage the PTSD from being in the foster care system without significant mental health support they start doing drugs… Repeat ad nauseum. I have several friends (saints, really) who work in the Ministry of Social Services who genuinely care and want to help change things by providing support etc but the ministry is perpetually understaffed and underfunded. Many go into that line of work bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready to make a difference, and after a few years end up bitter and jaded. While I partly agree with you on the hedonic treadmill part, it does also change the externalities of the situation. Someone who has a home (apartment, homeless shelter, whatever) might still choose drugs but they’re probably not going to choose to sleep under a ragged blanket on a park bench. It’s an incredibly complex problem. What happens to someone who uses drugs in public when that is criminalized? They can be fined (which they have no means to pay) or they can go to jail for a bit. So now they’re in jail and meet more people who come from similar situations. Our prisons are also full of drugs (how?!?) and are definitely not the place to finally have a chance to work on your mental health. People then get released with new friends and more PTSD. I don’t have the answers by any means, but around here at least our government was responsible for a huge amount of the damage that was done years ago and continues to be responsible for perpetuating its effects.
  - 2y ago
iraqmtpizza 2y ago
that which led to it. meaning the lack of purpose, employment, community, moral expectations, religion, and connection with their ancestors and nature

coffeebeqn 2y ago

If only. West coast housing prices have been on a tear for the last 20 years at least