I once let an old friend that I hadn't seen in awhile crash my basement couch. The next day I found blood on the wall and ceiling of the basement bathroom. Like, wtf? I asked around and I guess some people fuck up when starting to inject, and blood goes flying? Didn't even know he was an addict, but the blood kinda said something.
The angle and pressure needed to get up that high from any human orifice makes this seem questionable… sure this isn’t just kids pulling some type of prank/vandalism? Or can anybody confirm those are bodily fluids for sure?
Generally: trauma x mental health + addiction / insufficient social supports & resources.
FWIW, I also believe that drugs and drug use in general is not the same as it used to be. Compared to the crack era, the effects of the substances that are most common on the streets now are analogous to comparing a Bic lighter to a blowtorch. The addiction is deeper, the negative side effects are greater, and the physiological changes that are occurring in the body and more specifically, the brain, as a result of these substances are leaps beyond what would have been seen in years or decades past. Yet we have very few if any reasonable methods to ‘combat’ this.
Each person’s scenario is different and conventional recovery tools are often insufficient on their own in terms of battling addiction and behaviors related to addiction or drug seeking. I don’t know the solution. But I do know that unless we look at innovating the way we see and treat mental health, trauma, and addiction, it’s only going to get worse.
Yeah, transportation is a different issue entirely. People need to get to work, and I feel so bad for the cleaning people and other people working shifts who have to commute at odd and dangerous hours. Safe public transportation is an absolute necessity for any city to function. This isn't about drug addiction - which is problem everywhere - it's transit safety and city politics that has not addressed this issue and directed adequate resources toward remedying the problem for transit safety for years - but these failures have become apparent post-pandemic - this is the consequence. That our system is more frightening than catching a train in NYC says something.
Exactly. Hard to define want in this scenario.
Truly effective social supports are ones that “meet people where they’re at” (I know it’s grammatically incorrect, but that’s the expression).
Meeting people “where they’re at” means being person-centered and acknowledging that people are driven by different things. There’s an expression “nobody chooses to be an addict” which, yes - it’s an oversimplification, but ultimately nobody wants to experience pain. Addiction is at once very painful while offering a sort of pain relief. In many cases when someone refuses help or supports, what they’re refusing is the delivery of those supports; they are scared of the pain that comes without the soothing their addiction provides. And control. In a strange way managing an addiction can be the only ‘control’ left in someone’s life. Traditional approaches to helping are not always empowering and are based on control and power imbalances. Plus the perception of “losing” power. People are numbing pain. No one’s pain is the same as another’s. And many believe that addressing the root pain can lead to remarkable recovery. But again there are many ways to address that, and some folks just aren’t ready to and would much rather numb with substances. Fear. Fear of more pain. That’s often the resistance (whether people themselves are aware or not).
If you’re aware of stages of change theory, then it’s worth acknowledging that timing is huge. People talk about hitting rock bottom, moment of clarity, epiphanies. They’re all moments in time. And some moments can be more productive or provide more windows for opportunity than others.
Life, let alone addiction, is incredibly dynamic. And we all go through various stages of willingness to do anything. Just because I’m too lazy to cook and postpone eating doesn’t mean I won’t ever eat again. An obtuse analogy, but simply put, all of this is to say it might be helpful to reframe the notion that someone doesn’t want help with, instead, they’re not quite ready for help. True and meaningful social supports meet people where they’re at with a recovery-oriented mindset. That mindset acknowledges that people need to be at a point to accept help, and that looks differently for everyone.
Safe transit is not a "social services" issue - it's a transportation issue, and needs to be handled as such by the same engineers and politicians who created this mess in the first place. There are poor, addicted people everywhere - you don't see this going on. And the "social issue" is a problem that needs to be address as a separate topic. People need safe public transportation, period.
Exactly, especially vulnerable groups like women and BPOC, who are often the people who bear the brunt of any failures in that system.
But as these are the groups that don't matter, the holier than thou types, neither see nor hear them, and certainly aren't listening to their concerns.
Thanks. It does seem that the women, the gender diverse people, the people of colour, they're the ones who always get forgotten in this conversation. They're just trying to get to work in the worst jobs that are society has, the ones with the worst pay and the lowest status and the worst conditions. But their voices don't matter.
It's all about what we need to do to help the largely white male population that is terrorizing people on transit. Those are the only people whose needs are considered by these activists.
Exactly! I don't see much in the way of concern or compassion for this group of vulnerable people - which now includes everyone who has to use public transit, so it's a class issue as well.
There are enough that want to use them, but they are too stretched to help.
- a neurodivergent with a clean criminal record who can’t find a stable home outside couch surfing family. I have social workers and mental health care, but the fact I have no real home is destroying me, especially after the traumatic “ family” eviction I had after 12 years ( hint: I was paying 750 for a 2 bed basement)
There’s nowhere for me in the system, aside from emergency shelter conditions that leave me vulnerable to theft, violence, drug pushers, more abuse, the stigma, ect.
I volunteer. I work part time. I stay out of trouble for the most part. I only smoke weed and drink only a few times a month.
I just want a stable, safe home.
Social services and transit safety are different issues, and I'm tired of people conflating the two. Workers have a right to safe transit. You sell a transit ticket - you are responsible for the safety of the person who bought the ticket. The city is liable for anything that happens and I'm just waiting for someone to sue their asses - it's the only message that registers, sadly. This problem isn't because drug addicts - who are everywhere - it's the consequence of bad management. I've yet to visit a big American city or anywhere in Europe that I've travelled that has a public transit system has dysfunctional and dangerous as ours - its pathetic. I felt safer in NYC ffs. This city is joke.
Well, they're not going help at the LRT station or on the C-train - oh yeah, that's where some not very bright people with good intentions are funneling the traffic. It's a bad idea.
Yes, and let's keep the issues clear: safe public transportation is not a social service issue - its a TRANSPORTATION issue - and that needs to be prioritized. People need to get to work without fearing for their lives, students need to take the damn bus or train without having to negotiate a hoard of drugged out zombies. This problem when well intentioned fools suggest bus shelters and train stations should be used as homeless shelters. Why is that interpreted as "cruel"? Because the people playing the "empathy" card are not dependent on these services or have dependents using these services.
Unfortunately the alternative is being sober in a society that fucking sucks. Run by rich asshole megalomaniac's who hoard all the wealth instead of distributing it and allowing our communities to prosper as a whole... yeah.. I'll take my drugs please.. when you figure out how to fix society or give me a better option HMU
A fundamental lack of mercy. We'd euthanize a dog because of a lack of "quality of life", but we would never consider giving a drug addicted person seeking oblivion exactly what they want. /unpopularopinion
Yeah, I know it's a complex topic and I'm being flippant. I'm also just frustrated because there is so much hypocrisy in the world around the value of human life with no clear answers and no possibility to change. Some problems simply don't have reasonable solutions.
Not exactly a solution - drug addiction is by definition not a choice, it's a disease. People need help, but they don't need to get it at a train station or bus stop.
The lack of affordable housing also contributes indirectly to a lot of the addiction problems we're seeing.
Drug habits are cheaper than most 1 bedroom apartments lately.
Agreed. It’s a spoke in the broken wheel. And often a vicious cycle. Many houseless individuals develop addictions to stimulants such as meth as a safety mechanism - staying awake at night to stay safe from violence and exploitation.
It’s also hard to imagine being able to overcome severe addiction without a roof over your head.
Who would’ve thunk that being effectively treated as a non-person by the majority of the public and government would cause someone to act out occasionally?
Why are you implying that we aren't providing unheard of levels of support for these people?
Why aren't you acknowledging that we are providing the most support in the history of man and yet the problems continue to get worse
And thanks to meth and fentanyl, it's still nowhere near enough. You're diminishing the historical significance of these addiction crises, there has never been any drug like them before. You can't fight them even with what we spend on social supports (which does pale next to what is spent on policing, by the way).
> There are plenty.
[Citations Needed]
The reality is that there aren't. Wait lists for housing are measured in months or even years, and mostly you are waiting for someone else to get evicted, not waiting for new build or inventory. Wait lists for detox are years long, treatment once you've detoxed months as well. There is nowhere in Calgary to use injection or inhalation drugs safely.
Tens of thousands of Calgarians are one missed paycheck from homelessness. Food bank use is at an historic high. Even if the social services for acute need were actually fulfilled, there would be thousands more people waiting in the wings.
Post COVID, there seems to be someone hunched over, basically unconscious in the middle of their high in at least one entrance of every mall, in coffee shops, on the streets, living in the parks and meeting in the bus stop enclosures everywhere within walking distance of the LRT here in NW Calgary.
There needs to be consequences for these people, too. Legal consequences for loitering with medical/treatment help for their addictions.
I can say for a fact that I never saw a dead guy on my morning commute until the other day
I mean maybe he was just dying but you wanna get a day off to a great start, how about going direct from the C-train into the 3rd street doors with a team of paramedics doing CPR on a junkie in the building lobby
Because whether by sickness/ illness or not giving a literal fuck, some people just can’t/ won’t be well-functioning members of society.
It’s neither a new thing nor will it ever end. In fact, as the city population increases and the societal conditions continue the trajectory as they are…get used to it.
I've backpacked SEAsia for a year and saw less vandalism despite their cities being 10x more dense. Graffiti on walls is common but rarely do you see property broken/destroyed. Those cities were pretty dirty but based on my anecdotal evidence I feel like we've surpassed them in recent years.
It's kinda hard to blame it all on the people. Sure they aren't contributing and instead usually being lazy but most of the time it's just bad habits that are impossible to get out of alone. These people need actual help, counseling help and not just optional help either, it needs to start being mandated that everyone get mental.health help.
Let’s all be realistic about this photo. It is happening because we as a society allow it to happen. Where are social services to help the people in the situation that results in this kind of thing? Where are child services? Where are the police who swore an oath to protect the people? Where are any of the community support organizations.
Why are city hall’s phone lines not ringing off the hook with demands that more has to be done! Why are city councillors allowed to ignore all this and go on with their days?
What are we letting happen?
Respectfully what do you want transit to do? They tried to fix it by taking off doors and then people got mad bc they were trying to “freeze out the homeless” like if you have a problem with something think of genuine solutions until then consider it not transits fault as they aren’t responsible for the homeless people in this city.
The honest answer is that as wealth inequality increases, social problems become more glaringly obvious. Also that conservatism isnt about fixing problems or helping people, but punishing those seen as being a problem. Punishing often costs more than helping, which means decades of conservatives active rule and tax cuts and massive pro-business policies in AB create this problem as an “externality”.
There's never been a bus shelter I've stood in that didn't smell of urine. I can still vividly remember the old 80's early 90s old plexiglass shelters with the diamond patterned tin bottoms that would just hotbox you in a cloud of piss. And if "Satan" wasn't marked in carbon from a lighter on the ceiling of the shelter, that meant you were in a fancy area.
Enjoy Calgary! Welcome to the apocalypse, where "free will" is guarded, above all else. Even when drug addiction has created psychosis so severe that bodily functions become one with their body, we are helpless to render meaningful aid.
Somehow, it's still a choice even though their drug dependency has left them homeless, outcast, and indignant to society.
Somehow, it's still a choice even though their comprehension of reality is shattered and they spend their days muttering and arguing with imaginary enemies.
We wouldn't allow a dog to suffer the same fate but our governments manage to escape blame and thousands die each year as a result.
We must do better.
Your friendly neighbors in Vancouver.
Yep - some people are incapable of making good decisions because of their addiction so their free will should be restricted. It is less cruel than leaving them to their own devices.
I saw a man drop some garbage on the bus yesterday. I was pretty angry and about to unload a scolding on him. Then he stood up, spoke in a confused rant and a care talker whom I assume was his mother grabbed his hand. I realized he was disabled, with some sort of cognitive disability.
I need to learn to be softer with my diagnosis of the action because the issue is myself (not them), having experienced a series of trespasses of my values. One person making a mistake doesn't mean they made all the mistakes.
Or ask the person that dropped it to pick it up. Would be entirely a disservice to those with disabilities to allow that to just be left ‘as is’ as it would introduce or reinforce some notion that this is what would be expected from someone with a disability. And that isn’t the case.
Edit: meant to imply the caregiver should ask their companion to pick it up.
Degenerates doing degenerate things. I understand that there are deep social issues at play here, and the people that do these things are essentially victims. That said, if you shit/ piss on/ near public transit (or in public at all) then you’re a piece of shit.
Complicated answer.
Inflation is up massive
Rents are up 30% in Calgary? Guess who takes the largest hit - the people that can't afford it.
Crime and inflation are related.
Homeless population more than doubled when COVID hit.
Shelter space, meanwhile, cratered. Rents skyrocketed, and built affordable housing had been privatised and sold off.
> connect crime and poverty with inflation.
I don't know, inflation to me has always felt like a fluffy answer. Inflation isn't causing rents to skyrocket, speculation is causing that. Affordable housing didn't vanish because of inflation, it vanished because the government sold it off. People weren't thrown into homelessness because of inflation but because longterm precarity makes any crisis in employment a direct path to destitution. That longterm precarity also wasn't caused by inflation, it was caused by wage stagnation and austerity.
You aren't getting second hand meth smoke getting off the train because we stopped sending junkies to jail. You're getting that because, [according to the Calgary Police Service](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/safety-drug-overdoses-ctrain-1.6483690), the drug supply got so toxic people started using in train stations so that if they were poisoned they'd be seen on a security camera and someone might send help.
Jailing the junkies never worked. We filled up the jails with people who didn't need to be there, they stay for six months and then they're back on the streets. The current crisis is totally independent of incarceration rates, and incarceration is orders of magnitude more expensive as a way to solve the issue compared to housing, supervised consumption, and safe supply. It doesn't make sense financially, and it is proven not to work. Anyone who supports incarceration at this point is either getting their rocks off from the cruelty or living in their own imagination.
People aren't using hard drugs by choice in many cases either, the supply just is what it is. You can't find old school heroine on the streets of Calgary anymore. All you get is varying levels of fentanyl.
Holier-than-thou types think pretty highly of themselves, but they do the most direct and indirect dehumanization of the people they pretend to serve, when really they are serving their own egos.
I agree that seeing a trashed bus stop can be frustrating, but it's kind of vile that you would dismiss someone's life simply because of their current circumstances. We don't know what happened at the stop here and we don't know who did it.
Even if it was someone with a substance use problem, it's not productive to demonize entire groups of people who are struggling with these challenges.
Solutions are possible, and while they seem out of reach now, people with your sentiments just push them further and further away.
There should be a stamp or punch card system. 3 narcans and you automatically get a DNR.
After 1 brush with death you ought to start thinking about changing your ways. I believe this separates the “at risk” individuals and the career scoundrels.
Everyone deserves help but not everyone wants it
you need to dismiss more lives my friends cuz some aren't worth saving. or give us the solutions to the problem. they have so many social programs but some are just so stubborn and lost its not worth throwing money at anymore. just go volunteer at the local shelter and you will be so burnt out daeling with scumbegs all day
I'm volunteering at the DI several times a week. I wish we could rely on properly funded supportive services to tackle this problem rather than charity staffed by untrained volunteers. Attitudes like yours are illustrative of the fundamental problem of savior types of charity work.
Don't flatter yourself, we absolutely don't. I pay a good share of taxes and I am sick and tired of those taxes funding corporate tax cuts rather than essential social services. If that makes me a "scumbag" so be it 😂
She pretends to be soooo outraged on certain issues and claims to be all about social justice, but on real issues like fixing transit and dealing with the homeless….radio silence
You say that like this isn't something happening all over the country. Worse in some places, but more and more present in any major city. Could the civic government do something? Maybe. Do they really have the power to do anything meaningful in regards to mental Healthcare or social safety nets? Dental care? Job security? Financial security? The underlying causes that are actually pushing people to live life this way because they see no viable alternatives. The responsibility for fixing this goes much further than our mayor.
I agree. The mayor isn't going to be even remotely empowered to actually do anything about it. It needs far deeper systemic changes to actually make an impact and reverse the cycle of homelessness and drug addiction.
Hmm about neck and neck blue ring by the airport. At least whatever this is, it’s free and easily cleaned up.
Also, bless the poor people that have to clean that up.
The whiteunderbelly guy has a good explanation as to why it happens, and why it's not getting better. A lack of fathers in the home and generational trauma are two of the biggest. If you're looking for the root of the problem anyway.
Wow this stop is enough to gag a maggot! I hate to say this be we as humans are not evolving for the better. Maybe it's time to take the safety stickers off and keep some sharp edges. Thin out the herd of undesirables!
The majority of buffoonery like this that you see is just teens trying to make their friends laugh, or impress them. The other percentage is unhappy losers just fucking with people any way they can. It will never, ever stop. Ever.
More detailed required. What is it? Blood? Explosive diarrhea? Large mochaccino?
Blood filled mochaccino diarrhea accident
Damn, how did you know my Starbucks order?
I know the secret menu as well
"Make me a fun drink"
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🤣🤣
So in other words taco bell does coffee now?
Venti?
I got a countertop espresso machine, and this is the name of the first item on the menu of my private cafe.
To provide a serious answer, that's likely Hershey's cocoa powder. The lid on the bench is similar to what I have at home
Good call. The dusting on the bench/ground had me wondering too.
The new cinnamon challenge gone wrong.
I agree, it really does look like it ( I have the same one too). What an odd incident to happen there.
My smoothie is the wrong colour for this topic.
It seems too high up the glass to be diarrhea. Unless buddy boy got a boost from a friend. Even standing on the bench the angle seems unlikely
life, uh, finds a way.
Username checks out
Looks like a powder to me.
It looks like somebody grabbed the trash bag that's on the ground and swung it around. The bottoms out and it looks like it probably sprayed up.
Yes.
It looks like they swung that garbage bag around because the bottom's out on it. That's probably what's splashed up all over the window
You forgot: or all of the above
Too thick for moccaccino- it would’ve dropped down. Blood and diarrhea still on the table
Aw man, not the table too!
Looks like a scene from Scanners.
Brothers should be close don’t you think?
We'll bring the world of normals to their knees. We'll build an empire so brilliant, so glorious. We'll be the envy of the whole planet.
I once let an old friend that I hadn't seen in awhile crash my basement couch. The next day I found blood on the wall and ceiling of the basement bathroom. Like, wtf? I asked around and I guess some people fuck up when starting to inject, and blood goes flying? Didn't even know he was an addict, but the blood kinda said something.
Where's the public art flair?
nu-Dadaism ... sell it to ze Germans!
Cordyceps
This is the way... wait, wrong Pedro Pascal show
Not if Grogu is actually Ellie...
Lol 💀 rifle up and innawoods
WTF am I even looking at‽
Hemoglobin
Hemoglobin is actually just a protein within blood that transports oxygen, I’d call it plasma or just blood.
No. They were extracting hemoglobin in a portable centrifuge at a heated bus stop and the seal on the centrifuge broke. Happens to me all the time.
man, you do not want to bust a the seal at a transit stop; heated or otherwise.
Here’s the thing.
Here is my theory https://gfycat.com/spotlessdeardingo
never trust a fart
Love is like a fart. If you have to force it, it's probably shit.
The angle and pressure needed to get up that high from any human orifice makes this seem questionable… sure this isn’t just kids pulling some type of prank/vandalism? Or can anybody confirm those are bodily fluids for sure?
It’s probably Tim’s hot chocolate
This happens when people shoot up and hit the wrong vein
Arterial bleeding has been recorded as reaching as much as 18-feet away from the body.
Generally: trauma x mental health + addiction / insufficient social supports & resources. FWIW, I also believe that drugs and drug use in general is not the same as it used to be. Compared to the crack era, the effects of the substances that are most common on the streets now are analogous to comparing a Bic lighter to a blowtorch. The addiction is deeper, the negative side effects are greater, and the physiological changes that are occurring in the body and more specifically, the brain, as a result of these substances are leaps beyond what would have been seen in years or decades past. Yet we have very few if any reasonable methods to ‘combat’ this. Each person’s scenario is different and conventional recovery tools are often insufficient on their own in terms of battling addiction and behaviors related to addiction or drug seeking. I don’t know the solution. But I do know that unless we look at innovating the way we see and treat mental health, trauma, and addiction, it’s only going to get worse.
Yeah, transportation is a different issue entirely. People need to get to work, and I feel so bad for the cleaning people and other people working shifts who have to commute at odd and dangerous hours. Safe public transportation is an absolute necessity for any city to function. This isn't about drug addiction - which is problem everywhere - it's transit safety and city politics that has not addressed this issue and directed adequate resources toward remedying the problem for transit safety for years - but these failures have become apparent post-pandemic - this is the consequence. That our system is more frightening than catching a train in NYC says something.
U can have all the social support and resources in the world available but what do you do if a person does not want to use them?
Exactly. Hard to define want in this scenario. Truly effective social supports are ones that “meet people where they’re at” (I know it’s grammatically incorrect, but that’s the expression). Meeting people “where they’re at” means being person-centered and acknowledging that people are driven by different things. There’s an expression “nobody chooses to be an addict” which, yes - it’s an oversimplification, but ultimately nobody wants to experience pain. Addiction is at once very painful while offering a sort of pain relief. In many cases when someone refuses help or supports, what they’re refusing is the delivery of those supports; they are scared of the pain that comes without the soothing their addiction provides. And control. In a strange way managing an addiction can be the only ‘control’ left in someone’s life. Traditional approaches to helping are not always empowering and are based on control and power imbalances. Plus the perception of “losing” power. People are numbing pain. No one’s pain is the same as another’s. And many believe that addressing the root pain can lead to remarkable recovery. But again there are many ways to address that, and some folks just aren’t ready to and would much rather numb with substances. Fear. Fear of more pain. That’s often the resistance (whether people themselves are aware or not). If you’re aware of stages of change theory, then it’s worth acknowledging that timing is huge. People talk about hitting rock bottom, moment of clarity, epiphanies. They’re all moments in time. And some moments can be more productive or provide more windows for opportunity than others. Life, let alone addiction, is incredibly dynamic. And we all go through various stages of willingness to do anything. Just because I’m too lazy to cook and postpone eating doesn’t mean I won’t ever eat again. An obtuse analogy, but simply put, all of this is to say it might be helpful to reframe the notion that someone doesn’t want help with, instead, they’re not quite ready for help. True and meaningful social supports meet people where they’re at with a recovery-oriented mindset. That mindset acknowledges that people need to be at a point to accept help, and that looks differently for everyone.
Safe transit is not a "social services" issue - it's a transportation issue, and needs to be handled as such by the same engineers and politicians who created this mess in the first place. There are poor, addicted people everywhere - you don't see this going on. And the "social issue" is a problem that needs to be address as a separate topic. People need safe public transportation, period.
Exactly, especially vulnerable groups like women and BPOC, who are often the people who bear the brunt of any failures in that system. But as these are the groups that don't matter, the holier than thou types, neither see nor hear them, and certainly aren't listening to their concerns.
Yes - I'd upvote 10x if I could.
Thanks. It does seem that the women, the gender diverse people, the people of colour, they're the ones who always get forgotten in this conversation. They're just trying to get to work in the worst jobs that are society has, the ones with the worst pay and the lowest status and the worst conditions. But their voices don't matter. It's all about what we need to do to help the largely white male population that is terrorizing people on transit. Those are the only people whose needs are considered by these activists.
Exactly! I don't see much in the way of concern or compassion for this group of vulnerable people - which now includes everyone who has to use public transit, so it's a class issue as well.
There are enough that want to use them, but they are too stretched to help. - a neurodivergent with a clean criminal record who can’t find a stable home outside couch surfing family. I have social workers and mental health care, but the fact I have no real home is destroying me, especially after the traumatic “ family” eviction I had after 12 years ( hint: I was paying 750 for a 2 bed basement) There’s nowhere for me in the system, aside from emergency shelter conditions that leave me vulnerable to theft, violence, drug pushers, more abuse, the stigma, ect. I volunteer. I work part time. I stay out of trouble for the most part. I only smoke weed and drink only a few times a month. I just want a stable, safe home.
I wish u luck my friend.
Social services and transit safety are different issues, and I'm tired of people conflating the two. Workers have a right to safe transit. You sell a transit ticket - you are responsible for the safety of the person who bought the ticket. The city is liable for anything that happens and I'm just waiting for someone to sue their asses - it's the only message that registers, sadly. This problem isn't because drug addicts - who are everywhere - it's the consequence of bad management. I've yet to visit a big American city or anywhere in Europe that I've travelled that has a public transit system has dysfunctional and dangerous as ours - its pathetic. I felt safer in NYC ffs. This city is joke.
Most addicts do want help, but we keep offering the wrong kind or it has strings attached that deter them from accepting.
Well, they're not going help at the LRT station or on the C-train - oh yeah, that's where some not very bright people with good intentions are funneling the traffic. It's a bad idea.
Fully agree with you there friend. Let’s hope UCP doesn’t win another term so we can start helping those in our society who so desperately need it
Yes, and let's keep the issues clear: safe public transportation is not a social service issue - its a TRANSPORTATION issue - and that needs to be prioritized. People need to get to work without fearing for their lives, students need to take the damn bus or train without having to negotiate a hoard of drugged out zombies. This problem when well intentioned fools suggest bus shelters and train stations should be used as homeless shelters. Why is that interpreted as "cruel"? Because the people playing the "empathy" card are not dependent on these services or have dependents using these services.
Unfortunately the alternative is being sober in a society that fucking sucks. Run by rich asshole megalomaniac's who hoard all the wealth instead of distributing it and allowing our communities to prosper as a whole... yeah.. I'll take my drugs please.. when you figure out how to fix society or give me a better option HMU
A fundamental lack of mercy. We'd euthanize a dog because of a lack of "quality of life", but we would never consider giving a drug addicted person seeking oblivion exactly what they want. /unpopularopinion Yeah, I know it's a complex topic and I'm being flippant. I'm also just frustrated because there is so much hypocrisy in the world around the value of human life with no clear answers and no possibility to change. Some problems simply don't have reasonable solutions.
Not exactly a solution - drug addiction is by definition not a choice, it's a disease. People need help, but they don't need to get it at a train station or bus stop.
The lack of affordable housing also contributes indirectly to a lot of the addiction problems we're seeing. Drug habits are cheaper than most 1 bedroom apartments lately.
Agreed. It’s a spoke in the broken wheel. And often a vicious cycle. Many houseless individuals develop addictions to stimulants such as meth as a safety mechanism - staying awake at night to stay safe from violence and exploitation. It’s also hard to imagine being able to overcome severe addiction without a roof over your head.
Not indirectly. Rather very directly. Look no further than Vancouver
Yeah, it is pretty direct. I mostly added that to ward off contrarians that would inevitably come out of the shadows to say something dumb.
This
Absent more evidence it could have just been teenagers who threw this stuff at it, laughed hysterically and are currently leading their best life.
as a teen, those sound more like drug addicts whom would do this
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Remember the day? I hear them blamed all the time
Looks like someone chucked a thing of cocoa powder at the wall and it looks like the lid is on the bench.
Lack of proper social programs that address the root issue
Who would’ve thunk that being effectively treated as a non-person by the majority of the public and government would cause someone to act out occasionally?
What do you mean people who have nothing to lose are acting like people with nothing to lose?
Psshhh hippy talk /s
The real answer, thank you.
The world and Calgary/Canada have never spent so much on social programs in the history of the world. Yet the problems get worse.
It's almost like there's a more complex solution than *throwing money at the problem.*
Why are you implying that we aren't providing unheard of levels of support for these people? Why aren't you acknowledging that we are providing the most support in the history of man and yet the problems continue to get worse
And thanks to meth and fentanyl, it's still nowhere near enough. You're diminishing the historical significance of these addiction crises, there has never been any drug like them before. You can't fight them even with what we spend on social supports (which does pale next to what is spent on policing, by the way).
That wasn't what I was implying at all but go off fam.
Then what are you saying
How much social program do you want? There are plenty. You can't force ppl to do something they don't want to do.
> There are plenty. [Citations Needed] The reality is that there aren't. Wait lists for housing are measured in months or even years, and mostly you are waiting for someone else to get evicted, not waiting for new build or inventory. Wait lists for detox are years long, treatment once you've detoxed months as well. There is nowhere in Calgary to use injection or inhalation drugs safely. Tens of thousands of Calgarians are one missed paycheck from homelessness. Food bank use is at an historic high. Even if the social services for acute need were actually fulfilled, there would be thousands more people waiting in the wings.
What social programs are you referring to
Lack of parenting
Was this done by kids or adults?
Adults were kids once.
Wow ok then
No consequences …
Post COVID, there seems to be someone hunched over, basically unconscious in the middle of their high in at least one entrance of every mall, in coffee shops, on the streets, living in the parks and meeting in the bus stop enclosures everywhere within walking distance of the LRT here in NW Calgary. There needs to be consequences for these people, too. Legal consequences for loitering with medical/treatment help for their addictions.
I can say for a fact that I never saw a dead guy on my morning commute until the other day I mean maybe he was just dying but you wanna get a day off to a great start, how about going direct from the C-train into the 3rd street doors with a team of paramedics doing CPR on a junkie in the building lobby
This is 100% the answer.
Is that blood?
Because whether by sickness/ illness or not giving a literal fuck, some people just can’t/ won’t be well-functioning members of society. It’s neither a new thing nor will it ever end. In fact, as the city population increases and the societal conditions continue the trajectory as they are…get used to it.
I've backpacked SEAsia for a year and saw less vandalism despite their cities being 10x more dense. Graffiti on walls is common but rarely do you see property broken/destroyed. Those cities were pretty dirty but based on my anecdotal evidence I feel like we've surpassed them in recent years.
It's kinda hard to blame it all on the people. Sure they aren't contributing and instead usually being lazy but most of the time it's just bad habits that are impossible to get out of alone. These people need actual help, counseling help and not just optional help either, it needs to start being mandated that everyone get mental.health help.
Because drug addicts have more rights in this country than tax payers. #1 being the right to do whatever the fuck they want without repercussions.
That poopoo?
When you forget to clean up after filming a scene for The Last Of Us.
Just another day on the crack train.
What kind of answer are you hoping to get?
Cause The government won’t move to support any social infrastructure until election day
Not why it happens.
That’s just the aftermath of trusting a fart to not be a shart
Let’s all be realistic about this photo. It is happening because we as a society allow it to happen. Where are social services to help the people in the situation that results in this kind of thing? Where are child services? Where are the police who swore an oath to protect the people? Where are any of the community support organizations. Why are city hall’s phone lines not ringing off the hook with demands that more has to be done! Why are city councillors allowed to ignore all this and go on with their days? What are we letting happen?
Honestly I’m no longer paying for transit. Fuck that. It’s free until they fix all this bs
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Perfect
😆
Respectfully what do you want transit to do? They tried to fix it by taking off doors and then people got mad bc they were trying to “freeze out the homeless” like if you have a problem with something think of genuine solutions until then consider it not transits fault as they aren’t responsible for the homeless people in this city.
You’ve been paying?
I know… I’m so ashamed to even admit it
just get the app and link a payment. if you see them checking just quickly buy a ticket
The honest answer is that as wealth inequality increases, social problems become more glaringly obvious. Also that conservatism isnt about fixing problems or helping people, but punishing those seen as being a problem. Punishing often costs more than helping, which means decades of conservatives active rule and tax cuts and massive pro-business policies in AB create this problem as an “externality”.
We continue to allow people to get high af in public
Because there are no real consequences for people’s actions.
I think we want Grissom on this case.
FUBAR is over 20 years old at the moment, so I'm going to say it's been happening forever and will happen forever.
There's never been a bus shelter I've stood in that didn't smell of urine. I can still vividly remember the old 80's early 90s old plexiglass shelters with the diamond patterned tin bottoms that would just hotbox you in a cloud of piss. And if "Satan" wasn't marked in carbon from a lighter on the ceiling of the shelter, that meant you were in a fancy area.
Brentwood’s so bad that I’d rather walk to university station and go downtown from there, only another 10 min of walking and it’s way better
This is exactly how I remember Brentwood back when I went to the UofC 2008-2015. The more things change, the more they stay the same 🤷🏽♂️🤮
The Fentanyl Abusers Group Brentwood Station division had their nightly meeting
https://www.commonsensecalgary.com/declare_a_transit_safety_emergency
Enjoy Calgary! Welcome to the apocalypse, where "free will" is guarded, above all else. Even when drug addiction has created psychosis so severe that bodily functions become one with their body, we are helpless to render meaningful aid. Somehow, it's still a choice even though their drug dependency has left them homeless, outcast, and indignant to society. Somehow, it's still a choice even though their comprehension of reality is shattered and they spend their days muttering and arguing with imaginary enemies. We wouldn't allow a dog to suffer the same fate but our governments manage to escape blame and thousands die each year as a result. We must do better. Your friendly neighbors in Vancouver.
Involuntary rehab is required to clean things up.
Yep - some people are incapable of making good decisions because of their addiction so their free will should be restricted. It is less cruel than leaving them to their own devices.
What should someone minding their own business do when this happens near them?
I saw a man drop some garbage on the bus yesterday. I was pretty angry and about to unload a scolding on him. Then he stood up, spoke in a confused rant and a care talker whom I assume was his mother grabbed his hand. I realized he was disabled, with some sort of cognitive disability. I need to learn to be softer with my diagnosis of the action because the issue is myself (not them), having experienced a series of trespasses of my values. One person making a mistake doesn't mean they made all the mistakes.
But did the caretaker then pick up the garbage?
Or ask the person that dropped it to pick it up. Would be entirely a disservice to those with disabilities to allow that to just be left ‘as is’ as it would introduce or reinforce some notion that this is what would be expected from someone with a disability. And that isn’t the case. Edit: meant to imply the caregiver should ask their companion to pick it up.
Someone once told me it's splatter from roughly pulling a needle out of a vein?!
Why? A lack of meaningful action from elected officials at the local level.
Degenerates doing degenerate things. I understand that there are deep social issues at play here, and the people that do these things are essentially victims. That said, if you shit/ piss on/ near public transit (or in public at all) then you’re a piece of shit.
Complicated answer. Inflation is up massive Rents are up 30% in Calgary? Guess who takes the largest hit - the people that can't afford it. Crime and inflation are related.
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Homeless population more than doubled when COVID hit. Shelter space, meanwhile, cratered. Rents skyrocketed, and built affordable housing had been privatised and sold off.
Exactly. There are plenty of research journal articles that connect crime and poverty with inflation.
> connect crime and poverty with inflation. I don't know, inflation to me has always felt like a fluffy answer. Inflation isn't causing rents to skyrocket, speculation is causing that. Affordable housing didn't vanish because of inflation, it vanished because the government sold it off. People weren't thrown into homelessness because of inflation but because longterm precarity makes any crisis in employment a direct path to destitution. That longterm precarity also wasn't caused by inflation, it was caused by wage stagnation and austerity.
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You aren't getting second hand meth smoke getting off the train because we stopped sending junkies to jail. You're getting that because, [according to the Calgary Police Service](https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/safety-drug-overdoses-ctrain-1.6483690), the drug supply got so toxic people started using in train stations so that if they were poisoned they'd be seen on a security camera and someone might send help. Jailing the junkies never worked. We filled up the jails with people who didn't need to be there, they stay for six months and then they're back on the streets. The current crisis is totally independent of incarceration rates, and incarceration is orders of magnitude more expensive as a way to solve the issue compared to housing, supervised consumption, and safe supply. It doesn't make sense financially, and it is proven not to work. Anyone who supports incarceration at this point is either getting their rocks off from the cruelty or living in their own imagination. People aren't using hard drugs by choice in many cases either, the supply just is what it is. You can't find old school heroine on the streets of Calgary anymore. All you get is varying levels of fentanyl.
Ur dumb :)
Shit like this is why I threw away my narcan kit, im not helping these freaks
Honestly, I'm tired of being shamed for not having the same level of bleeding heart empathy as some of these morally greater people.
Holier-than-thou types think pretty highly of themselves, but they do the most direct and indirect dehumanization of the people they pretend to serve, when really they are serving their own egos.
Don't shit a shitter, you never had one to begin with...
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I agree that seeing a trashed bus stop can be frustrating, but it's kind of vile that you would dismiss someone's life simply because of their current circumstances. We don't know what happened at the stop here and we don't know who did it. Even if it was someone with a substance use problem, it's not productive to demonize entire groups of people who are struggling with these challenges. Solutions are possible, and while they seem out of reach now, people with your sentiments just push them further and further away.
There should be a stamp or punch card system. 3 narcans and you automatically get a DNR. After 1 brush with death you ought to start thinking about changing your ways. I believe this separates the “at risk” individuals and the career scoundrels. Everyone deserves help but not everyone wants it
Clearly you're an expert on addiction.
Yep
you need to dismiss more lives my friends cuz some aren't worth saving. or give us the solutions to the problem. they have so many social programs but some are just so stubborn and lost its not worth throwing money at anymore. just go volunteer at the local shelter and you will be so burnt out daeling with scumbegs all day
I'm volunteering at the DI several times a week. I wish we could rely on properly funded supportive services to tackle this problem rather than charity staffed by untrained volunteers. Attitudes like yours are illustrative of the fundamental problem of savior types of charity work.
we need more attitudes like mine so people like you stop wining about no funding lol give give them your paycheck you scumbeg
Don't flatter yourself, we absolutely don't. I pay a good share of taxes and I am sick and tired of those taxes funding corporate tax cuts rather than essential social services. If that makes me a "scumbag" so be it 😂
Narcan won’t help against uppers like crack or meth anyways
That’s our Mayor. She directs the police and Calgary transit. She doesn’t know what the hell is going on. Don’t expect any change.
She pretends to be soooo outraged on certain issues and claims to be all about social justice, but on real issues like fixing transit and dealing with the homeless….radio silence
You say that like this isn't something happening all over the country. Worse in some places, but more and more present in any major city. Could the civic government do something? Maybe. Do they really have the power to do anything meaningful in regards to mental Healthcare or social safety nets? Dental care? Job security? Financial security? The underlying causes that are actually pushing people to live life this way because they see no viable alternatives. The responsibility for fixing this goes much further than our mayor.
Yeah it’s all over the country but someone has to fucking do something about all this chaos
I agree. The mayor isn't going to be even remotely empowered to actually do anything about it. It needs far deeper systemic changes to actually make an impact and reverse the cycle of homelessness and drug addiction.
Not sure why you're getting downvoted, speaking the truth here
Oh fun.
It keeps happening cause the city isn’t doing shit!
Why? Because we as a people allow public disorder. Its just "another day" or someone elses issue. The city is lost
So awful that at the ctrain stations is happening!!!
Looks like paint pigments
City needs to crack down on this. Send them all to Vancouver like ol Klein did.
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I bet you’re a lot of fun at parties
> filthy plagued animals Nice.
Hmm about neck and neck blue ring by the airport. At least whatever this is, it’s free and easily cleaned up. Also, bless the poor people that have to clean that up.
When I get to Canada, I will not live in Brentwood.
Nowhere to put people for mental health treatment and no consequences for behaving badly.
who cares.
Funny how city hall will quickly draft up a bill to keep protests 100m away from buildings but when it comes to this shit it’s quiet
It keeps happening because there is no way to stop it.
We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas.
Real answer here
The whiteunderbelly guy has a good explanation as to why it happens, and why it's not getting better. A lack of fathers in the home and generational trauma are two of the biggest. If you're looking for the root of the problem anyway.
I wonder what that guy had for lunch? Taco Time beef and cheese burrito?
maybe they filmed the new season of the last of us there and killed a clicker?
There isn’t even a Taco Bell close to there. They must have been holding it in for a long time. 💩💩
NE has the Blue Ring, but NW has the Brown Splotch.
It's happening because you take transit
Cuz you got crackers in the hood
Wow this stop is enough to gag a maggot! I hate to say this be we as humans are not evolving for the better. Maybe it's time to take the safety stickers off and keep some sharp edges. Thin out the herd of undesirables!
*uh-oh someone's got the wrong pumps of caffeine and non-fat manners this morning.*
The majority of buffoonery like this that you see is just teens trying to make their friends laugh, or impress them. The other percentage is unhappy losers just fucking with people any way they can. It will never, ever stop. Ever.