comment: >
  
  Gabor Mate is one of the most important people in the world of drug policy—he’s a key player in helping society transition from the failed “war on drugs” to adopting the harm reduction model. As long as moronic, anti science politicians don’t mess it up, countless lives will be saved, and countless others will be made easier by adopting this approach. Please everyone go read Gabor’s books or just listen to him talk on YouTube. Such an amazing person
context: That headline misses the “new” part of the news. Vancouver not charging people for possessing personal amounts of drugs is already how it’s worked for a long time so there’s no change there. The new thing that starts tomorrow is that the Federal government has now decriminalized this for the entire Province of British Columbia. So it’s every police force in BC other than Vancouver that’s embarking on something new. >
  
  Hopefully this will progress to provincial health coverage >
  
  In Canada... that is actually in the realm of the possible.
  Decrim alone can create as many problems as it solves. Decreased enforcement has to be accompanied by increased treatment, intervention... you need to put more people on the job, no substitute. >
  
  That's why ome country, I think it's sweden?, Actually has clinics where someone who wants to do heroin can go and do it in a sanitary environment with a clean needle. They will offer them rehab of they want, but not force it. >
  
  This is something we only wish for Sweden. I think we still have have the highest death count of heroin addicts in the EU. Drug laws here are ridiculous. You could get sentenced to 6 month in prison for having smoked weed. No possession or anything, just being high. It's up to the courts to decide. The police can also force you to produce a urine sample or take a blood sample from you upon suspicion. The clinics you describe most probably do not exist here. You may think Sweden is progressive, and liberal, but when it comes to drug laws we live in the dark ages still. >
  
  This frankly shocks me. I always thought Sweden was very progressive with drug laws. I wonder where I got that impression. 🤔 >
  
  You are probably thinking of Switzerland... >
  
  In The Realm of Hungry Ghosts is an interesting read. It gets critical of conventional drug policy but I thought the anecdotes from the Vancouver streets were the most interesting