We know what is needed to help people deal with an addiction: social supports, mental and physical healthcare, perhaps a job, perhaps a living stipend, an appartment and medication (i.e. clean drugs). We know that forced treatment doesn’t work. We know that pushing people out of public spaces doesn’t work. We know that charging someone for using drugs in a public place doesn’t work. We know that allowing dirty drug equipment to circulate in cities doesn’t work. We literally know exactly what is needed to mitigate the toxic drug crisis and help people thrive. But instead of doing what will help, Canadian politicians and journalists choose to chase what will cause even more harm.
And that’s the point of necrocapitalism: to accelerate the crisis with things that do not work because in the end, the system that we have, and that they defend, prefers these people to die.
As long as the mainstream discourse on drug continues to be pulled by the right, the decisions that are made will make the crisis even worse.
Yep, the Toronto Star used to be a somewhat oprogressive voice but is now owned by the American owner class... so they will place their thumb on the scale with respect to these issues.
Not only do these policies unfairly punish the already struggling, but they do nothing to actually prevent people from getting into these struggling situations to begin wirh.