Hospitals allow drugs, weapons but not smoking
I’m often baffled with the way society looks at social challenges. A memo read in the B.C. Legislature dated March 12 instructed nurses to not stop open use of illicit drugs in hospital rooms and instead teach patients how to properly inject drugs into their IV lines.
The president of the B.C. Nurses Union called this “concerning,” saying it places staff in harm’s way for possible volatile and violent behaviour. There’s more.
A memorandum from Northern Health dated sometime in 2023 instructed nurses to allow patients to possess weapons in a hospital, provided they’re checked in a secure location.
Is it just me, or does none of this make sense? B.C.’s decriminalization has been the biggest flop since New Coke was launched in the mid-1980s. Decriminalization is not working, as the state of Oregon has just acknowledged.
By comparison, how many patients in palliative care would love to have one last cigarette? Or the overworked and stressed-out nurse or technician who’s having a bad day. Smoking is prohibited on all hospital property, but not drug use or weapons?
I feel for those who suffer addictions but, in the case of weapons, employee and patient safety must come before a person’s right to be armed, even if it’s checked in a safe location.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel comfortable around guns and knives.
People deserve to feel safe, especially in a hospital.
Let’s compare this with gambling addiction. When casinos were introduced in Canada in the early 1990s, within a year there were several related court stories in the newspaper where I worked at the time – the minor hockey treasurer stole tens of thousands before taking his own life; a school secretary in charge of fundraising books had sticky fingers; a hospital worker swiped cash and credit cards from the wallets of patients. Legal counsel for each described their clients as stellar citizens who never broke the law.
What drove them to steal? Gambling debts… each of them.
Gambling never gets as much press, nor the chatter around the coffee shop, which other addictions do. But gambling is often just that, an addiction. It’s just not in our face.
The punishments are becoming strict.
Pete Rose, the greatest hitter of all time, has been denied entry to the Baseball Hall of Fame for years. Toronto Raptor Jontay Porter has been banned by the NBA for gambling allegations which included game fixing. Just this week the NFL announced Isaiah Rodgers of the Philadelphia Eagles has been reinstated after a year-long suspension.
When one considers the money professional athletes earn in a season, this is a severe punishment.
What did sports fans think would happen when sports betting became mainstream? It’s one thing to bet on the outcome or score, but there’s now all kinds of side bets – will this player be over or under 10 points? This should not be allowed.
Gambling, I’m told, creates a sense of euphoria – even when you’re having a bad night at the tables.
A common symptom with compulsive gamblers is making an excuse to go to a casino.
Using the provincial government’s philosophy on open use, perhaps Pete Rose could be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame if he limited his gambling to playing crown-and-anchor at the country fair. Jontay Porter could bet on games, provided he was being supervised by an addiction counsellor.
I have space for one more irregularity.
Distracted driving – most commonly using a cell phone while behind the wheel – is the leading cause of accidents and death in motor vehicle accidents.
Shouldn’t the penalties be the same as impaired driving?
For the record, I’m not endorsing smoking, gambling or drunk driving.
I’m just puzzled by the inconsistencies.