I think every location has a bias based on people who tend to be in such locations. Thus one has to have an idea of the cross section one wants to poll and make sure that the desired mix was achieved – age, gender, employment, etc., whatever is appropriate for the poll.

For instance, at the hospital I expect a significant number of health workers to have participated there. I also suspect that health workers will have a different perspective than the general population.

aren’t drugs illegal? and why are taxpayers paying for these crackheads?

Welcome to the New Location “Hastings and Main”

I,m surprised at the positive results. How was the survey done, because I never heard about it. I would have voted against it, if asked. I feel that you can’t have it both ways- Spend billions of tax payers money to back up laws that make drugs illegal and at the same time open Safe Injection Sites (with tax payers money) so that there is a place to consume these “Illegal” drugs. Either these drugs are illegal, or change the laws and pour this money into rehab clinics and safe injection sites.

I for one came across the survey at Canadian Tire. The fella’s doing that survey knew nothing about our Needle Exchange Center.

As for the previous opinions ~ Ignorance? Injection Sites decrease transmission of illness/disease, provide easy access to support if/when ready to seek help, and keeps users more linked to society than left to a corner on the street.

You have to remember that these people are someone’s mother, father, son, neice, granddaughter, etc. Would you not want to know someone is connecting with them and ensure they are safe?

I for one would support such a sight, but in order to get your little “fix” it should come with some sort of price. Whether it be a form of community service or something like that. I also think that the other “price tag” should be that, that injection is going to give you a horrible case of diahreea too.

If you ask the right people the right questions, you get the right answers. I for one do not support this one bit. Next thing you know we’ll be buying heroin for them because they can’t afford it. Why enable them? Let natural selection run it’s course.

Gee whiz! I mentioned this Insite plan a week or two ago and nobody took it and ran with it. Now here it is. Knock yerself out. Just think of this plan as a flame that will attract moths. Maybe it could be the one “pillar” that will push downtown revitalization forward. One never knows. Does one?

it is a poll- therefore not everyone gets asked right?
these students were doing the best they could with what they had.

they also DID NOT make any recommendations,so no need to flip out i believe one of the student reps said and i quote “more research should be done in this area”.

we should look at this research for what it is, a student project who brought light to a tough topic and great for them for getting involved in the community. these young people are our future policy makers- and getting out and going through the motions to make public policy is a great way for them to learn better how to do that!

“they also DID NOT make any recommendations” .. no, they are just scheduling a meeting with council to show them thier results. If that is actively trying to get something started I don’t know what is. Ask a bunch of health professionals whos’ livelihood depends on more gov’t programs or students studying in a library and what do you think the results would be? I wonder how their poll would have faired had they set up shop at the entrance to some of the industries around here? Not so good I think if they asked blue collar workers who actually pay the bulk of taxes.

Poll done by students of political science at our university. Who else could volunteer to take that poll? Hardworking pulp mill workers who pay a lot of taxes? Logging truck drivers? People who work in the service industry for almost minimum wage? Retired folks ? Merchants? Nope. Students from that ivory tower of learning and hypothesis about how the world should really work. Talk about dreams of a perfect world, eh? Unenlightened and positively minded youth who don’t have thirty years of having a lot of their tax dollars wasted ready to change the world. Must be nice. And another bunch coming on line for next semester.

Whenever you hear and read about the strain on the medical system it seems to me that the seniors are the ones being blamed for the problems with the system. Don’t think I have ever read or heard anyone complain how much of a drain these druggies are on the system.They get better and faster care at UNBCHospital then the seniors. My view they got them selves into the mess they are in so why do I have to keep paying for the losers as I am on a fixed income and don’t ask for or look for anybodys help but now your asking us to use taxpayers dollars so an illegal drug shootup center can be opened. Have the bleeding hearts give their head a shake.

“One more thing”, as Columbo would say. Who is behind this poll taken by unwitting students. C’mon now. Who went to the university to arrange this “poll”? Someone with an agenda to help those addicted and unfortunate souls? Every one has an agenda. As in, “What’s in it for me” type answer.Whose agenda is this? Who or what organization approached these students? Why weren’t other groups of our society asked? Hey Brian. Do you know? We all have agendas. Own up.I know and surmise for sure it wasn’t the RCMP who funded this poll.

If they were polling at Canadian Tire, they probably didn’t get a whole lot of ivory tower students there. Probably don’t find a lot of students at the library downtown either (students have their own library). Either way, students are residents too, so they should have a degree of imput into this, just like the rest of us.

You might not all like the results, but perhaps you’re the vocal minority? Glad they were invited to present their findings to council. The City Hall isn’t doing these kinds of surveys, so it’s nice to see students picking up the slack!

Lets see, Surrey doesn’t have one.Neither does Abbotsford,Kelowna,Nanimo,Victoria,Calgary,Edmonton,Regina,Winnipeg,Toronto,Ottawa Montreal,Fredericton,Halifax,St.Johns.But Prince George needs one.Only Vancouver and it’s still a dump down in that area.Prince George I guess you’ll put it in down in the VLA as if the good folks down there don’t have enough to deal with.

Dont we already have a supervised injection site in town? It’s called the Hilton on the Hill.

Ok.. all you weed smokers, time to kick it up to heroin so can legally abuse drugs at a tax payer funded place..

BC..aint it grand

if you all wanted a say, why didnt you get up and participate- its all of you people who complain about our government and dont get out and actually vote- people will maybe take your comments into consideration if you actually participate. however for those who do participate and did- good on you.

stressing the fact that these students have determined more research needs to be done- not necessarily done by them. they never said their methods were perfect.

sounds like you all are getting up in arms about nothing. how do you you think any kind of policy gets made? policy on taxes, old age pension, health care- research is done first to see if it is a relevant and needed topic.

going to city council is great for the students learning experience- if they had done research on any other topic there would have been an angry group who oppose it.

that’s what politics is about. fine to engage in a scholarly and or friendly debate, but is it really necessary to resort to stereotyping?

The clinic won’t be put in the VLA. As much as the VLA folks don’t wanna be labeled NIMBYS, it will come down to zoning. I doubt city hall has enough money for lawyers again to do another end run around our OCP, downtown will be THE place. Lotsa room and vacancies on “historic” George Street.

Sure let’s go for a safe injection site, by all means, we can put it 35km out of town somewhere in the sticks so they don’t come wandering back in a drug induced stupour.

They have lots of nice alleys and vacant buildings to shoot up and defecate in already, heavens forbid they trip and stick themselves with there own needle. We need to waste more money on watching the idiots and in some cases even help them hit a vein when they are shaking too bad to find a good one that isn’t collapsed.

Seriously? Like there aren’t enough toilet bowl areas of Prince George already we need to consider the less fortunate junkie who would just as soon stick you with a needle or knife to get there next fix? Think about that, the fix is only momentary, then when the buzz wears off they are out looking to score again, breaking into your car or truck, jacking up your kid as they walk home. Theft, vandalism, assault?

I don’t see any of them on the sidewalk crying out to anyone that they have screwed up and want us to help them? Mother, Father, sister, brother, daughter, son until they hit the wall, they just don’t get it, they are deaf and dumb to the reality of life. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped.

How about a rapid detox center instead of a safe injection site? That makes more sense over helping them to get high, help them get straight, but they need to walk through the door. As with rendering first aid, if they refuse assistance you have to watch and wait, once they are unconscious then you can help them because consent is implied.

There are some things that are good ideas and others that are just a costly waste of time. The needle exchange program is flawed, the original concept taken from Europe. The idea was simple, you bring in your used needles and we give you new ones, on a one for one exchange. No needles in, no needles out. If you don’t have the tools you can’t do the job.

If you don’t have needles then you need to buy them. But here with the bleeding hearts that seemed cruel and unfair. So we give them away ahhh the whole point is lost on that logic. If we allow these things to go on, then over time the practice will appear to be “acceptable to the masses”. What kind of lesson are we teaching our kids?

Geez if I want to get drunk I have a few options, I can go to the bar any bar of choice and as long as I have cash, I have booze. I run out of cash, I run out of booze. I don’t see anyone willing to take me out for drinks because I am out of cash. I need to find me one of those safe drinking sites, where they will help me drink. Sounds a bit stupid huh.

It’s just a bad idea in a town the size of P.G. and just another enabler project.

Can I just point out that I am a student- and pay taxes just the same as all of you.

And all of these opinions are great- we would have loved to hear your opinions at the poll, perhaps it was not as well publicized as it could have been but we welcomed all to take part in our survey and tried our best to get to places that would allow us to achieve a wide demographic.

There are so many valid points from all of you and I hope that if* council decides to further research the topic that all of you get out and take part!

It is purely up to council whether or not any further research is conducted. if they choose not to we as the students can only hope that the community does not look down upon us for our choice in topic- it was merely research for research’s sake. If research is not conducted how can we know if there is any kind of support for a policy like this?

*support OR opposition!

I too am surprised by the results only because I’ve lived in Prince George for so long and understand some of the prevailing attitudes of the populace. The demographics of Prince George tend to lean toward the less educated type of person who typically wouldn’t have a clue about the value of harm reduction programs, because they’re so dogmatic in their ignorant mind sets. However, these types of people are the ones whom would typically be less inclined to take up their time with a survey too so that could also be a factor in the results.

Either way the survey came out though doesn’t matter, the statistics are clear when it comes to slowing the proliferation of infectious disease and the other social ills associate with this kind of drug abuse. It makes sense that the health care system should treat these people, because it’s an illness, not a lifestyle choice. Their illness threatens all of us, not just them and the people they associate with; this means your kids too. So why don’t you educate yourself a little about what these sites can do for a community before sounding of the same old nonsense?

Some people posting on this topic seem to believe that UNBC students were the people who replied to the poll….how to you come to that conclusion???

are UNBC students the only people who are present at the Public Library or the hospital…..?

The information posted states that :
________________________________

Polling took place over March 9th, 10th, and 11th in several downtown locations, including the hospital and public library. There is a margin of error of ten.

_______________________

I would just like to point out to all those whiney-arse, bleeding heart, tax-paying blue-collar types that if you think providing a safe place for injecting drugs is an expense, you ain’t seen nuthin’ till you fork over for medical treatment for Hep-C and HIV! Safe injection sites?! That’s chump change! Several years of liver transplants, Carposi’s Sarcoma, Interferon, tens of thousands for medications each month . . . now that’s real money!

Get a clue!

I can see these kids just wanting to help the less fortunate in life,” but ” society needs to get real. These druggies have had some sort of hardship that put them there. A breakdown of such. That is a mental condition. These people need a Mental Hospital, not more drugs nor fresh needles. Drugs are illegal, therefore caught with drugs you should be put in front of a judge and if found that you are addicted drugs because of life’s hardship then you have a mental evaluation. If found unstable then you should become ward of the Province and put into a institution until you are free of drugs and found stable.

The effects of going “cold turkey” due to the effects of OxyContin without help or assistance or aid should be enough of a life lesson to those addicts as to why one should just say NO to drugs. That which doesn’t kill me makes me stronger? I hope to hear from these people.

PSST hey dude PG has a safe injection site! Cool man, ain’t PG the crime capital of Canada? Yep! because of all the drugs? Yep! Cool, not only can we get some drugs there we can have someone help us shoot up! Cool! When does the next bus to PG leave?

@Retired Senior. PG is special, they like to have things that no other place in B.C. has, like fluoridated drinking water.

@Sine Nomine. The spot they picked for the safe site is right next door to your house. Maybe you could volunteer to drive these folks back to the street they hang out at after they have been loaded up.

@Krusty. I don’t think drug addicts are canidates for organ transplants. So you get a clue.

What Sine Nomine said.

Sine Nomine:”…because it’s an illness, not a lifestyle choice.”

In my opinion you got that backwards: They made a certain lifestyle choice and now they have an illness called addiction.

They did not have this illness BEFORE they made the choice to use addictive drugs.

So sorry.

NoWAy:”@Retired Senior. PG is special, they like to have things that no other place in B.C. has, like fluoridated drinking water.”

Terrace, Fort St. John and Prince Rupert are still intentionally spiking the water with hexafluorosilic acid too.

Unfortunately Prince George too still denies its citizens the simple choice to have this chemical effluent or not!

Water supplies are NOT to be used for medicating the whole public! It’s illegal to medicate anyone without their consent.

What’s next? Statin drugs in the water for everyone? Anti-obesity medication? Drugs which make the general population more docile and accepting of the rule of the authorities?

From CBC.ca,

“Pediatric Tooth Decay called Epidemic”

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/story/2012/04/02/calgary-dental-pediatric-tooth-decay.html

“Dental public health officer for Alberta Health Services, Dr. Luke Schwart, said tooth decay is a multi-faceted disease.

But Calgary’s decision last year to stop adding fluoride to tap water is certain to make a growing problem worse, Schwart added.”

As of 2011, the U.S. EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) imposed tougher standards on fluoride for the first time in 50 years. This was due to 2 out of 5 adolescents having dental fluorosis (tooth staining and pitting of the teeth). Do you think damaging the teeth of 40% of our youth is OK?
The EPA subsequently released a new review of fluoride research which indicated there can be an increased risk of brittle bones, fractures and crippling bone abnormalities due to drinking fluoridated water. Actually it has been known for decades that fluoride has a negative effect on calcium bonding – not new info.

Al this talk about fluoride? Just get rid of the fluoride in the water then and open a “fluoride injection” clinic downtown too.

LOL….free methadone and flouridone for all.

Add hardening of the arteries to that too.

JohnnyBelt:”But Calgary’s decision last year to stop adding fluoride to tap water is certain to make a growing problem worse, Schwart added.”

There has been NO increase in cavities in ANY jurisdiction where it was discontinued. The dental profession has a financial interest in having fluoridation promoted as acceptable and necessary!

However, IF fluoridation is SO effective – why is there a “Pediatric Tooth Decay Epidemic”???

Obviously it is NOT effective at all!!!

I tell you why! Most children don’t brush their teeth regularly and they NEVER floss! Their parents don’t monitor their habits and many adults are guilty of not practicing proper dental hygiene!

The fluoride which is added to our water is NOT natural calcium fluoride, a mostly insoluble fluoride. The industrial waste product sodium fluoride used is totally soluble and it a) does nothing for the enamel of the teeth when the water is swalloed b) it goes straight to the internal organs, like kidneys, thyroids, bones and the pineal gland, i.e. the brain.

People with poor kidney or thyroid function should never drink our tap water, never.

Fluoride is already available in toothpaste and as a surface varnish treatment at the dentist office.

Don’t force the general population to drink it and bathe with it!

It is unethical, immoral and more than likely even illegal!

If a challenge is made by someone with tens of millions to invest in a Canada wide lawsuit fluoridation will be history.

What a JOKE! Give drug addicts free needles so they can shoot up crystal meth and other drugs. Lets spend taxpayers $$ on Taxpayers and not folks on welfare and social assistance. When do the hard working folks of P.G get a tax break or anything free??!

What’s up doc? ;-)

Yes, and I would like to have clean
drinking water for all the people in our
City of Prince George. Just like the rest
of B.C. I wonder why we have been discriminated against? Don`t we all have the same rights in this country? The word Fluoride sounds very simple, but believe me, it is not! Fluoride is very poisonous! It is an Industrial waste from the Fertilizer and the Aluminum Industry. It contains: Lead, Arsenic, Cadmium and Mercury!

Would you like to drink that for ever and ever?

I thought this was about a drug injection site. Oh well, PrinceGeorge got to stand on his little soap box and preach again.

I will explain it to you duffer. Drugs are drugs and we are being mass medicated without a say if we choose to drink the water. The addicts chose to get high the first time and became addicted and don’t have the will power to stop.

Addiction is addiction not matter what you are addicted to. Alcohol, smoking, illegal drugs. The addict has a choice to carry on or stop.

Obviously I have to explain to you NoMind. I stated what does fluoride in the water have to do with a safe injection site. Maybe you don’t understand English. By the way, did you read the news from Calgary where they stopped putting fluoride in the water? The cavities in younger children are increasing at an alarming rate. I don’t think people have changed their lifestyles so much that they are ignoring their children’s teeth. Hmm, maybe it’s because they stopped putting fluoride in the water.

By the way, you don’t have to drink the water here if you don’t want. That leaves more for the rest of us.

I seldom drink water. Fish fool around in it.

Canadian DDS Hardy Limeback, B Sc, Ph D, Associate Professor, Preventive Dentistry, University of Toronto (2000), has warned parents and care-givers: “Children under three should never use fluoridated toothpaste. Or drink fluoridated water. And baby formula should never be made up using Toronto tap water. Never.”

Back to the Injection Site: 3 problems: 1)addict has to steal something from the community (unless he’s well-heeled, which is unlikely), 2) then he has to find a fence to get money for the stolen item, 3) then he has to find a pusher who will then sell him the illegal drug (the pushers love this arrangement), addict then goes to injection site. Unfortunately, 3 illegal events had to happen, before he gets his fix. Consider that some addicts do go through this process more than once a day! There’s a real problem.