In this section, it's deeply personal.
I'll be talking about my experiences, my opinions, and my
perspective. Where I'm coming from on this
issue, for lack of a better term, I'm going to call it the
psychology of drugs, addiction and environment.
So first of all, drugs provide an an escapism.
That escapism itself is addicting.
Speaking for myself, take alcohol for example, my
background in corporate sales, I would go to a lot of corporate
events and there was always like free flowing booze at these
events, you know, you have a few drinks, helps you mingle, helps
you feel not as shy, get to approach people, talk, laugh and
and also too you know, the stress of the work.
A few drinks, you know, kind of helps you wash the day away,
makes you more approachable and makes the person you're trying
to talk to a little more approachable.
When I was younger, going to nightclubs and working at
nightclubs, I was, I was always kind of a little bit of a shy
person. My childhood, I spent a lot of
time in isolation. My older brother was seven years
older than me and I'd spent a lot of time by myself.
I had friends. I would go to summer camp, Boy
Scouts, camping, outdoor clubs. I was good in groups.
I played sports. But I also, On the contrary of
that also I, I spent a lot of time by myself and sometimes I
can feel shy, I can feel socially awkward.
So in my 20s, going to the bar, having a, a few drinks, it's
always easier, you know, to talk to the pretty girls.
I was never one that enjoyed drinking by myself.
For me, alcohol was a social thing and and as time went on,
alcohol became more of a stress reliever.
Working long hours, you know, depending on the circumstances,
you know, sometimes in center of my jobs there was a lot of
pressure and, you know, quarterly reports I had to do.
I put in really long hours, like sometimes 90 hours a week, you
know, getting up at 6, coming home at six, having dinner and
then sometimes working on my computer till 11:00 later at
night, you know, to get those reports in.
And then when it was all over, you know, you go have a few
drinks to decompress. And then I also worked in a lot
of startups. Startups environments are highly
emotional. There's lots of highs, there's
lots of lows and, and when you reach those highs and those
little successes or big successes, what did you do?
You go out and celebrate with drinks.
And then when you'd hit those lows, you'd lick your rooms with
alcohol. So this became a pattern for me.
I became what is known as a binge drinker.
I didn't drink daily, didn't drink all the time, but when I
did it was either for jubilant celebrations, overdulging to
celebrate or to soothe my emotional wounds and or a
failure like a bad sales loss or a major set.
Back in 2020, my ex-girlfriend Chantelle died tragically. 2020
was a very tragic year for me. I lost my wife and I lost a dear
friend, Chantel. She was my girlfriend for about
two years and she had a very big personality, larger than life.
She loved her BMWs. She had probably the largest
high heel collection I've ever seen in my life.
Probably worth a fortune and she was a little bit gangster too
with all her gold jewellery that she wore.
Being with her was fun. It was distracting.
She loved going to clubs, she was always on VIP list, she
always had invitation to parties and nightclubs and she knew a
lot of people. She would take me to Jamaican
after hours at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.
She was very distracting. Sorry to say that again, she was
very distracting and and a distraction for the type of life
that I lived, you know, like the Monday to Friday corporate nine
to five and being in a relationship with her was very
addicting. But the problem was is that she
fuelled her fast pace lifestyle with her cocaine addiction and
when she was on cocaine she was a lot of fun.
But when she came off, when she was withdrawing from cocaine,
she was very volatile. She was led.
She was literally the devil when she came off or coming down from
cocaine. She would get very volatile,
highly abusive. And this was a pendulum.
This was a pendulum and you can see and then and then when I
look back at my life, there is this pattern, this pendulum of
highs and lows that kept reoccurring in my life.
Unfortunately, like I said, in 2020 November, I guess she used
some cocaine that was laced with fentanyl and she passed away.
So drugs have had a very major impact in my life.
I've seen their destruction. And with that, I understand how
enticing and addicting they are. And let me and what I'm talking
about, what I'm talking about, I'm not talking the addicted
nature of the drugs themselves, but I'm talking about how using
drugs themselves is addicting because they can help you, they
can help facilitate, they can help you escape and
they can the miserable existence.
In my case, let's say that one more time, I understand how
enticing they are. And I'm not talking about the
actual physical addicting nature.
I'm talking more of the psychological addicting nature
of the drugs. Like in my case, they helped me
escape out of a of a very miserable existence.
In my case, I worked a lot of jobs that were that were had a
lot of pressure. There were very pressure
environments. I had large sales quotas.
I had responsibilities and some of these jobs too, I was
responsible for other people and how other people perform was on
me because I was in management and leadership roles.
And it can be very stressful when you're leading A-Team and
you're responsible for how they were perform.
And I have the kind of personality that I take
responsibility and I and I feel responsible for other people
whom I'm leading the the people. And lot of these situations
reported to I felt were a little bit dysfunctional and
disconnected of what was going on on the ground.
And that caused a lot of friction.
So make a Long story short, Friday would come and the
girlfriend would come and get me and we'd go party Hardy, go for
dinners and drinks to some fancy steakhouse she would call one of
her friends that would deliver some party favors.
Off to the nightclub, then two and after hours sometimes back
in and back to her place. We went sleep to the next day.
Sunday's was was spent completely recovering.
Monday pull myself back together.
Repeat this pattern. I found it very destructive and
what I found for me, especially for a person that's always been
pretty health conscious and detoxing every week took a toll
on me. And when I was drinking and
doing the drugs I felt great is when I was detoxing.
The mentally, just how low I felt emotionally, I felt more
reactionary. I felt like I had more of a
temper. I would snap at people, I would
be less patient with people, I would react more dramatically to
stressful situations. People I'd work with would take
notice of this. Sometimes they just think that
the pressure of the job was getting to me, and it did impact
my work. I realized I had a cutter out of
my life because it was affecting my bottom line.
My ability to perform. Cocaine is very powerful.
I understand why people are drawn to it.
When you're on it, you feel like Superman or Superwoman.
You feel yourself esteem is high.
You feel like in my case, you know, I would combine it with
drinking. I could drink 10 times more
because it would counter the effects of alcohol.
You wouldn't be slurring or staggering.
And literally, like I said, you could drink twice as much when
using this stuff. I checked myself into a detox
center. I did a 30 day detox and got
counseling and got some new life skills and how to manage my
life. I was extremely grateful for
that help. Extremely grateful that it was
available to me. It changed my life and and like
I said, I had a cutter out of my life.
Later on we became friends and she was getting her life back
together. She went back to school.
She, Chantelle, was working towards becoming a social
worker. But once in a while, for old
times sake, she would dabble and she could, you know,
occasionally and she can never really quit it.
I've seen that a lot with other friends.
They can manage their lives to some degree.
They can still hold down a job, you know, still take care of the
responsibility, but once in a while, they would still dabble
in it. And that's what's dangerous now
because in this situation, a lot of the drugs have become more
and more toxic, cut with fentanyl.
And that's exactly what happened to her on November 2020.
She passed away because she got a bad batch with fentanyl.
So I take the topic of drug addiction very seriously because
I've lost a lot of friends in my life that I was extremely close
to, that I cared about. And I've seen the devastating
destruction that it does to their families and to their
loved ones. Not only does it hurt them, but
it hurts everyone around them. When you care or love someone
and you see them deteriorate, it's extremely heartbreaking.
Or they become a person or they become someone that they're
normally not. They become vicious and angry
and destruction and dishonest. These drugs change you.
They change who you are as a person.
And for me, when I was using them, like I said, I was fine.
When I was using them, it was when I was off them, like those
Mondays I'd come back to work and I was so miserable.
I remember feeling sometimes every time I took a deep breath,
it literally felt like the skin on my body was tearing.
And I remember like, and I think also too, there's a little bit
of this emotional pain. You feel shame, you feel
embarrassment, you feel the sense of self loathing and this
makes you more angry. And then sometimes in situations
when someone angered me, I could be quite vicious.
My temper would get pretty, you know, ferocious.
They made me feel very emotionally unregulated when I
was off them, when I was coming off them, you know, even up to a
few days later. So when I was going through my
detox program and decided to really examine me and my whole
foundation, you know, I had a pretty good 20s.
My 20s was pretty good. You know, for the most part, my
childhood was good. My teens was a bit rough.
My mom got pretty dysfunctional when I was a teenager and I left
home at a very young age. I left home at 17.
And even when I was in grade 12, I was paying my own rent,
working construction on the weekends.
Of course, Vancouver was a different city and I lived with
my friend Kevin, who passed away also from a drug overdose.
He was my workout gym partner. We worked out at a gym called
Olympic Fitness and Kitsilino. That's no, that's long gone.
We lived and breathed bodybuilding.
We thought we were going to become the next Mr. Olympia.
Our rent was a whopping $300.00 each and you know, it was a good
time to. It was a fun time in my 30s, you
know, this was a time for self reflection.
This was a time of self reflection.
So when I was at the the detox clinic, I also took a spiritual
look at my life. I was raised as a Christian as a
kid, and so I decided to explore other religions like Buddhism,
Mythsism, Gnoscism. And there's a a gnostic belief
system that we create our own heavens and Hells on earth in
the realm of the existence that we are, and we choose our own
heavens and own hell. And this resonated with me.
And like I said, long week, I'd get a big paycheck, my
girlfriend would come Chantelle and pick me up in her brand new
BMW, off to a fancy restaurant, then to a fancy cocktail part,
meet up with her gorgeous girlfriends.
She always had a big group of girlfriends.
You know, you felt pretty cool as a dude.
You know, hanging out with all these 10s, all these hotties,
you get a lot of attention. You get some party favors and
and this was the appearance and the feeling of heaven.
I felt like I was in paradise, wasn't thinking about deadlines,
sales, quarterly reports, the pressures, how people under me
were performing. And then two days after when
you're coming down from the party, I literally felt like I
was in hell. Pure hell.
Haven't slept for two days. My brain literally hurts, my
stomach hurts. I can't handle daylight,
pounding headache, feeling of self loathing.
This was hell for me, and I knew a lot of people who would do the
same thing as me. And how would they counter it?
Well, they just start drinking in the morning.
They do drugs throughout the week.
I knew a lot of people and this was the pattern.
I've seen this, I've seen this. God, I've seen this like 100
times. They would fit this pattern.
They'd go out for a few drinks with their friends.
One of their buddies would have a gram of coke.
They'd have a few lines. Pretty fun stuff, right?
Next day, you know, sorry, next time they went out with their
friends, they'd say their their buddy would say, hey, do you
want to buy a gram right now? They bought their own gram.
They would do it all night. Next time they'd go see their
buddy. Next time they go see their
buddy, they'd ask their buddy to hey, I want to buy an 8 ball.
That 8 ball would last all weekend, right?
Then they're buying an ounce, right?
That weekend bleeds into Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday. Now they're using every day.
I don't care who you are, that's hell when you have to use this
stuff each and every day, when you need that to regulate, when
you need it to feel good. Because like I said, the come
down, it's the come down. That's the motherfucker.
And then then this is the worst case scenario and I've seen this
a lot. So now they're using everyday,
they're burning bridges. They owe people money right now.
If there are women, lot of cases they start decided doing sex
work. And if they're a dude, maybe
they have to start thinking creative ways of getting money.
I've known people like started committing frauds at their work,
stealing money. A quick story.
There was a guy in my high school and he was like the on
the All Star basketball team. So I went to two high schools.
I went to my first high school was Templeton in East Vancouver.
And then I went to a school on the West side of Vancouver in
Kitsilino. And their big claim to fame is
that they had the best basketball team in the city and
this kid was one of the star basketball players.
And it's a big deal, like they in kits align on the basketball
team is a big deal. They have annual what's called
the Blue Demon Classic. That's the name of the sports
teams and kits. I was played on the Blue Demons
for the rugby team and they have a Blue Demons for the basketball
team. So they have a Blue Demon
Classic. So this kid when I went to high
school was like the star player of that team, good looking guy,
highly charisma and had the whole world ahead of them.
Probably could have gotten a basketball scholarship if he
pushed himself. He started dating a girl and her
dad owned a automotive business. His dad loved basketball and had
all girls. Didn't have a son and literally
almost adopted this kid as his son.
So this was like literally going to be his father-in-law hired
him for his business and what everyone didn't know that this
kid had a secret drug addiction. He was a coke addict.
He started stealing money out of the till and then by the time
that he was caught, he stole over something like 100K out of
this business for his coke addiction.
This is the nature of addiction. Now tell me that's not that's
not creating your own hell. And it gets worse than that,
right? It gets worse than that.
You can you can get on the wrong side of one of these dudes that
sell drugs and they might be affiliated with somebody.
And now you owe really scary people money.
And that's scary. I've seen that.
I've seen people who owed money and scary, scary, scary.
My brother had a friend whom was nicknamed Hitler because his
temper was so crazy. He did not want to make this guy
mad and he was a massive dealer and this dude owed him a lot of
money. And one day they came and picked
this guy up at the front of his house.
He was leaving, leaving his house and the scary dude says
hey get in the car right? They took him back to his house
and scary guy Hitler put a shotgun in his face while the
other guys beat him to the inch of his life.
This, this, and now tell me that's not a now another next
level of hell owing people that will literally kill you if you
don't pay them because you are addicted to this drug.
And then there's, you know, the legal system getting in the
wrong side of the legal system. Maybe you decide that you're
going to start dealing. I've seen this scenario.
You have a habit and now you have to start dealing to support
your habit. But you're getting high on your
own supply, right? That's the next level of hell.
You're totally immersed in this world.
And then there's the actual health complications, heart
attacks, psychotic breaks, paranoia.
My friend Kevin, when he was high as a kite, he would do coke
for 2-3 days and he started to get knee problems because he
thought people were coming after him.
And he had one of those, like, mail slots in his front door.
We put this mail right through the door, and he would kneel
looking through his mail slot, holding a handgun, thinking
people were coming after him. So the paranoid delusions, the
psychosis, the mental health effects, right?
Is something you know that will draw you into the deep levels of
hell. See, this is the thing, right?
We live. You know, like I, like I said,
I've had a lot of friends that went down this road.
The elusive, the addicting, the addicting nature of these drugs
are powerful, absolutely powerful.
My drug of choice generally is more MDMMA and same thing.
Oh, you feel great when you're on it.
This, you know, party all night, dancing at the club, you know,
and then my case, I'm hanging out with like 10 gorgeous women
high on east, you know, pure heaven.
But man, it took me like 2 days to feel normal after two days of
hell coming off at getting ready back to work for Monday and you
know feeling completely Monday was always a write off.
I like I it was like a completely white knuckle making
it through Monday. Tuesday started to feel normal.
Wednesday back to normal Thursday.
Can't wait for the weekend on Friday.
Right. The pattern, See, it's strange
to me too, because we live in a society, you know, for my
American listeners and people who might be listening in other
areas around the world, is that Canada, especially BC, it's a,
it's a very highly regulated place.
It's a, it's a, it's a city. It's a, it's an environment
that's very micromanaging. So for example, I go buy
cigarettes, you know, I don't, I don't smoke.
But if you do buy cigarettes, right, they can't even show you
the cigarettes in the store. You have to ask for them by
name. And the cigarette packs are
completely covered. And then they have these
horrible, like cancer pictures of cancer and tumors.
And you know, these grotesque, you know, pictures, right?
But then in the same environment, you know, they,
they essentially legalize drugs. You can legally own crack
cocaine, heroin, meth, fentanyl. Yeah.
It's a strange time to be alive, right?
So it's really bizarre. So, you know, we went through
the pandemic and we had all these lockdowns and at the show,
vaccination, This was all to keep us safe, right?
But then on the same time, it's like, oh, if you want drugs, you
want crack, you want this, you want that, and that's to keep us
safe. So yeah, it's a strange time to
be alive, right? But.
And this is where I'm, I'm coming to, right drugs has been
in this environment, Vancouver, Metro Vancouver, part of its
subculture really for 100 years. I've been doing a really deep
dive into the circumstance of Robert Picton, but I'm also
exploring the environment that created him.
And Robert Picton's primary victims were women who were
heavily addicted to drugs in the most living in the most hellish
landscape of the Downtown East Side, addicted to these very
powerful drugs to cope, to feel not like they're in hell and
willingly getting a ride in a in a truck by a man who smells like
pig shit and off to a farm and never to be seen again.
Drugs have been part of the subculture in Vancouver since
for 100 years. And for the last 30 years
they've become part of the the landscape where people are doing
drugs now out in the open in the public, where before that mostly
people did drugs and doors and it was behind closed doors.
But since the 90s in the Downtown Eastside, it's always
been as a place where people used in public places and
openly, right. So it's been part of this part
of this our world for a long time.
And, and I've been doing a lot of thinking about it, right?
Because again, you know, I've talked to you just now for the
reasons why I did them. You know, my, my reasoning, my
rationale for doing them. Mine was escapism and wanting to
be. They allowed me to turn that
switch off in my head. I'm always been a chronic
overthinker and Friday would come, like I said, you know, the
girly friend would come pick me up in her fancy BMW and off with
the gorgeous friends and party. Party for me for that moment,
for those few hours or evening that was paradise.
It was a complete escape from my life of the other five days of
the week. So this is what I, I really
truly think is that the nature of this, right?
I'm, again, I'm not talking about the physical addiction,
I'm talking about more of the psychological addicting nature
of the drugs in general. Is Vancouver for as long as I
can remember, right? And in my research, it's always
been a boom and bust city. There's always been haves and
have not. And Vancouver is also a very
isolated city in North America. If you look at it on the map,
it's the most western city, large city in Canada.
You know, we have Victoria and Vancouver on Vancouver Island,
but you know, Vancouver's a much bigger city than that, right?
And it's one of the most isolated cities in comparison to
other places. Like if you look at other and on
the map, there's big cities and there's clusters of big cities
around them. So it's a pretty isolated place
and there's always been a struggle to live here.
Now, if you if you're the haves, there's always been haves and
haves not. So then it comes down to like
the elites who have, you know, they live in the fancy areas,
they have ties to government. They have, you know, they have
right. They have the connections, they
have the money, they have the status.
And then there's a have nots. The working class has always
been a big working class here and it and it's not, it's not a
fun city to grind in because it's a city that's always been
more expensive than average. It's it's hellishly expensive
now, but even in the in the best of times, rents were always a
bit higher than the rest of the country.
Taxes are high in BC and things are, you know, slightly always
been more expensive in general compared to the rest of the
country, right? So you have to work hard to have
the things then you do in other places, right?
Like for example, currently if you take Washington State and
you take BC, houses in Washington state are are on
average the quarter of the price for an average house in BC.
Yet wages tend to be higher in Washington state, right?
So the people that the have nots have to work twice as hard to
have what other people have, right?
And then we get to the nature of status.
So let's break it down more simply, right?
High status and low status, right?
When I on the Friday, you know, when I'd have my big paycheck
and meet the girly friend, you know, jump in the fancy car and
go hang out with her gorgeous friends, I felt pretty high
status. I'll tell you a quick story.
There was one time I remember where, you know, I had a major
set back at work, something I was working on for a very long
time. This completely fell apart.
It was a big deal I was working on and it just completely
crashed. I just took the wind out of my
sails, right? It was a, it was a real low.
It was a real low moment, like completely devastated.
And after I got off work, I was literally walking around in a
daze like a zombie. I just felt like, oh, my God,
like, you know, end of the world, right?
She calls me up. Hey, what are you doing?
I'm like, I don't know. I'm just, you know, walking
around. Had a bad day.
Oh, forget about that, She said. I'm at the Roxy.
I'm on. I had this.
Go there to the door. I have club courtesy with a big
group of friends Come right now. So I was like literally, I was
only about like a few blocks away.
Walk over the Roxy, there she is.
They're big group of girlfriends.
They all hug me. They're all happy to see me.
Few drinks later, I'm in back in heaven, right?
High status. I felt high status, felt low
status few moments ago, now I'm high status, right?
And then think about this too, right?
So what drugs, drugs are, are powerful in another way because
selling them you can make a lot of money, right?
You become a coke dealer, which is, you know, pretty, you can be
pretty, it's a pretty profitable drug to sell.
And now you can be high status. You can buy those fancy cars,
those fancy brand name outfits and now you're high status.
So an environment like Vancouver that's hard to get ahead than
other places. Now, you know, you're driving
around in $100,000 car, right? You're wearing $1000 shoes, you
know, $400.00 jeans, gold chains, right?
You're going to, people are going to take notice that
they're going to think, whoa, he, he has some money, right?
And they associate that with being high status, right?
Maybe in my case would be fancy suits, you know what I mean?
And and that is addictive. It's very addicting.
No one wants to be low status. And then but then on the other
side of it, like the the pattern of pendulum swings, chasing
these high status, getting addicted, and now you're in the
lowest of the low. You're you're addicted.
You burned all your bridges. You get kicked out of wherever
you live because you're not paying your rent because you're
addicted. You're on the street, your
clothes isn't tattered, and you're all you.
Every waking moment you're feeding that addiction.
Now. You're in the lowest of the
lows. You're in hell.
And then think about what we call it.
Think of the words we use. I always pay attention how words
are used, right? When someone does drugs, what
are they doing? They're getting high, feeling
high, right? That is the heart of it and that
is the corrupting nature of drugs.
For that brief moment, including in my case, I felt high, you
know, hanging out the clubs with with Chantelle, you know, with
the beautiful ladies, you know, that in itself was a high for me
even before I did the drugs. So you add some MDMA in that or
some coke and you know, 4 or 5 cranberry martinis, I felt
pretty high status except for the next day.
So this is an important subject and and, and I understand why
they trap people and why what you're searching for, for these
high moments for these can lead you to the ultimate hell.
Thank you for listening. Welcome back everybody to the
Deep Dive. Always a pleasure.
Today we're going to be diving into the world of drugs in
Canada, specifically from 1980 to 2001.
Yeah, really fascinating period. Lots going on.
We're going to be pulling from a couple of sources.
The 1st is a collection of RCMP intelligence reports.
Oh cool. Yeah.
And so this is kind of like, you know, right from the horse's
mouth. Well, maybe not the horse's
mouth, but, you know, from the perspective of law enforcement,
what they're seeing on the ground during this time.
We're also going to be pulling from some personal accounts, so
kind of getting both sides of the story.
The lived experience. Yeah, exactly.
Fascinating. And just to give you a little
taste of what we're going to be talking about, we're going to be
diving into heroin, cocaine, cannabis, you know, all the all
the hits. We'll also be talking about the
emergence of chemical drugs like meth and ecstasy.
So a lot to cover. Should be a really interesting
deep dive. One thing that really jumped out
at me, it's right off the bat, was that Canada wasn't just a
consumer of drugs during this period.
They were actually a key player in the global drug trade,
serving as like a transshipment point for drugs headed to the
US. Whoa.
OK. There's even this account of
Canadian marijuana being traded for cocaine, almost pound for
pound. Whoa, that's wild.
So I think that really speaks to kind of the complexity of of
this whole issue. And yeah, yeah, I'm just, I'm
really excited to dive in. Well, this is fascinating
already. And, you know, you touched on
something really important, which is just how tricky it can
be to even measure something like the drug trade.
You know, we're talking about something that's deliberately
hidden, constantly changing, influenced by countless factors.
Yeah, this huge challenge. How do you even begin to wrap
your head around something like that?
Well, the RCMP reports mainly relied on what they called a
supply based approach. They were looking at seizures,
arrests, production estimates. So basically trying to measure
the size of the iceberg by just looking at the tip.
Exactly. It gives you some insights, but
it's definitely not the whole picture.
Right, you're missing a huge chunk of the story.
So what's the alternative? How do you get a more complete
understanding? Well, a consumption based
approach would look at the demand side, the the actual drug
user population, their habits, their preferences.
So it's not just about how much is out there, but who's using it
and why. Precisely.
It's about understanding the human element behind those
statistics. That makes a lot of sense.
So the RCMP was trying to piece together this puzzle of Canada's
drug scene with limited information.
Yeah, and the reports themselves acknowledge that you have to be
really careful when you're interpreting this data.
Enforcement priorities change. Clandestine operations are, by
their very nature, hard to track.
Right, it's all happening under the radar.
And then you've got organized crime, which is always finding
ways to stay one step ahead of the game.
So it's like trying to hit a moving target in the dark.
Pretty much, But with all those limitations in mind, let's dive
into some specific drugs. What do you say we start with
heroin? Sounds good to me.
Let's do it. What was going on with heroin
during these two decades? Well.
The RCMP data shows some pretty wild swings in availability.
It's almost like a roller coaster, a roller.
Coaster Really. OK, tell me more.
So the late 1970s actually saw a heroin drought in Canada?
A drought? Wow.
So what caused that? It was linked to disruptions in
Southeast Asia, which was the main source of heroin at that
time. Interesting, so if there's no
heroin coming in, do people just switch to a different drug?
Not quite. Southwest Asia stepped in as a
secondary source, and for a while you had this fascinating
competition between the two regions, almost like 2 global
forces vying for a share of the Canadian market.
That's wild. So I imagine the authorities
were trying to keep up with all of this with these two major
players in the game. Oh, absolutely.
And they were really focusing on targeting those high level
traffickers. Did that have any impact?
They definitely caused some disruptions, but even the RCMP
reports acknowledge that it didn't really reduce the actual
heroin supply on the street. So it was kind of like playing
whack a mole, you know, He knocked down one operation, but
another one pops up somewhere else.
Yeah, I can see how that would be incredibly frustrating.
So what happened next? Did anything change?
Toward the late 1990s, we start seeing a shift.
The RCMP was making bigger seizures, which suggests that
trafficking organizations were becoming more powerful.
More powerful? How so?
They had more resources, more sophisticated logistics, they
were operating on a scale that was becoming harder and harder
to contain. Like an arms race, law
enforcement trying to keep up with these increasingly
sophisticated criminal networks. That's a good way to put it.
And remember, Canada was also being used as a transit point
for heroin that was destined for the US.
Oh, right, so it wasn't just about addressing domestic
consumption, it was also about being caught in this
international flow of drugs. Exactly a very complex
situation. OK, so heroin, definitely a
roller coaster ride. What about cocaine?
What were the trends looking like there?
Cocaine's a different story. It's one of steady growth, with
its popularity rising throughout both the 80s and the 90s.
Why do you think that happened? What was driving that
popularity? Well, part of it was the media.
Cocaine was being glamorized. Glamorized.
How so? It was associated with success,
with wealth, with a certain allure of danger.
Right. It had that kind of forbidden
fruit appeal. Exactly.
And it wasn't seen as a fringe drug anymore.
It started to cross those social and economic boundaries.
So it became more mainstream. What did the RCMP report say
about how this played out? They don't really delve into
those specific social contexts, but they do highlight how law
enforcement efforts in South America, where most of the
cocaine was coming from, had this kind of ripple effect.
A ripple effect. Yeah, so when they cracked down
in one area and would just shift to a new location.
So it's like squeezing a balloon, the pressure just moves
somewhere else. Exactly.
It's really hard to stop it at the source.
So if you can't stop the flow, did that impact what types of
cocaine were coming into Canada? Absolutely.
We see the emergence of crack cocaine, which spreads rapidly
across Canadian cities. And crack.
I mean, that's a whole other beast, isn't it?
Yeah, it was cheaper, more potent and unfortunately, more
addictive. So a whole new set of
challenges, particularly for those marginalized communities
that were already struggling. OK, so who were the big players
in all of this? Who was controlling this influx
of cocaine? Well, the Colombian cartels were
heavily involved, but the RCMP reports also highlight this
growing influence of outlaw motorcycle gangs.
Like the Hells Angels? Exactly.
And they weren't just involved in distribution, they were
becoming more and more entrenched in all aspects of the
drug trade. So it wasn't just an external
problem, you at home, homegrown criminal elements profiting from
this as well, Yeah. Did the RCMP have any success in
curbing all of this? They were making some large
seizures, but even the report suggests that cocaine
availability remained high. Supply was outstripping their
efforts. A classic case of too much
product, not enough enforcement. Did the smugglers change their
tactics at all? Oh yeah, constantly.
They were always innovating. In the beginning it was mainly
small scale Courier operations, but then we see a shift to these
larger shipments concealed within legitimate cargo.
But they had to get more creative to avoid getting
caught. They did, and it was everything
you can imagine. Coffee beans, lumber, you name
it. It was a constant game of cat
and mouse. I bet so.
It wasn't just one big cartel controlling everything, it was
this whole web of different players, all with their own
methods and networks. That's right, and it's important
to note that it wasn't just Colombians either.
The RCMP reports point to the involvement of other organized
crime groups too, Italian and Jamaican cartels, all with their
own strategies and connections. Really a global operation.
OK, so we've talked about heroin and cocaine.
Let's shift gears and talk about a drug with a very different
history and cultural context. Let's talk about cannabis.
Yeah, cannabis has a unique story.
In Canada, it was the most widely used illicit drug
throughout these two decades and probably still is.
Right. And I've heard stories about BC
Bud being a big deal even back then.
Was that something that was mentioned in the reports?
Absolutely. Canadian growers, particularly
in British Columbia, they were building a reputation for
producing some really high quality marijuana.
They were rivaling the imported stuff.
So it was a homegrown product that was gaining international
recognition. Interesting.
And here's where it gets even more interesting.
Canadian marijuana wasn't just for domestic consumption, they
were actually exporting it. Really, where was it going?
Some of it was going to the US and get this, it was sometimes
being used as currency to purchase cocaine.
Wait a minute, are you saying they were essentially bartering
weed for coke? Yeah, pretty much.
The reports indicate that the exchange rate was something like
3 kilos of cocaine for 1K of marijuana.
That's incredible. So Canada was involved in both
sides of the drug trade, both as a supplier and the consumer.
Really fascinating. What about organized crime?
Were they involved in the cannabis trade as well?
Oh yeah, you can't escape organized crime, can you?
The report specifically mentioned those outlaw
motorcycle gangs. They were playing a big role in
cultivation and distribution, even for something that had a
strong domestic supply. So even with a plant that grows
naturally, you still have these criminal elements finding ways
to profit and exert control. That's kind of a recurring
theme. It is isn't.
It just shows how deeply intertwined these issues are.
Yeah. OK.
So we've covered the big three, heroin, cocaine and cannabis.
What about some of those newer drugs, those chemical drugs that
were emerging during this time? We'll focus on methamphetamine
and ecstasy. Those were the ones that were
really gaining traction in Canada.
OK, so let's start with meth. Where was it coming from?
Was it being produced locally? A lot of it was, yeah, primarily
produced in those clandestine labs often controlled by outlaw
motorcycle gangs. Those guys again.
What about ecstasy? Was that a local product too?
Not so much. Most of the ecstasy was imported
mostly from Western Europe. Interesting, and I imagine the
rise of ecstasy was linked to that whole rave culture that was
taking off in the 90s. Oh absolutely.
The RCMP reports mentioned that connection specifically.
So you've got this social phenomenon driving the demand
for this new drug. Exactly.
And while the authorities were trying to crack down on meth
production, it remained a pretty persistent problem.
Why was that? Because the chemicals needed to
make it were readily available. So even if you shut down the
labs, you still got this easy access to the ingredients.
Exactly. It's like trying to stop a flood
by plugging 1 hole in the dam. It just finds another way
through. Yeah, so meth and ecstasy, 2
very different drugs, both presenting their own unique
challenges. Definitely.
And it's important to remember that all of this data, all of
this analysis, it's not just numbers on a page.
These are real lives being impacted by this complex issue.
Absolutely. And that's where those personal
accounts become so powerful. They provide a whole other
dimension to this story. Exactly.
They remind us that behind every statistic, every seizure,
there's a human story waiting to be told.
And that's what we're going to explore in the next part of our
deep dive. We'll be looking at those
personal experiences, how people were navigating this drug
landscape, what they were struggling with, and what their
stories can teach us about the broader impact of this issue.
Picking up where we left off last time, I'm really interested
to hear your thoughts on those personal accounts we touched on
at the end there. What really stood out to you
about those? One thing that really resonated
with me was how the source described addiction as this
descent into hell. Oh wow.
You know, like each step taking you further and further away
from who you really are. Such a powerful image it is.
It really captures how insidious this disease can be.
Absolutely. And it's a good reminder that
recovery is about so much more than just stopping the substance
use. It's about reclaiming your life,
rebuilding those connections, rediscovering who you are
without that crutch. Without relying on those
substances, Yeah. The source also talked about the
importance of, you know, really addressing those underlying
psychological issues. It's like you're peeling back
the layers of an onion, trying to understand what drove someone
to seek solace and substances in the first place.
And that's often the hardest part, isn't it?
Confronting those deep seated traumas, the anxieties,
insecurities. It takes a lot of courage.
It does. To face those demons head on.
For sure. The source mentioned using a
combination of, you know, things like detoxification, counseling,
self reflection. It seems like there's no
one-size-fits-all approach. Not at all.
Recovery is a deeply personal journey, and it often involves a
lot of trial and error. Yeah, what works for one person
might not work for another. It's about finding the right
tools, the right strategy of. Hearing out what works for you.
To manage the stress, you know, develop those healthy coping
mechanisms and build a support system that can help you stay on
track. They also talked about finding a
sense of purpose. You know, something beyond just
those fleet being highs of substance use, right?
It's about rediscovering those things that bring joy and
meaning and genuine connection back into your life.
And what's really interesting here is that those insights,
yeah, those aren't just relevant for people in recovery, right?
If we think about the bigger picture, they apply to society
as a whole. How so?
Well, addressing the drug problem requires more than just
law enforcement. It's about creating environments
that foster well-being, resilience, a sense of
belonging. Think back to some of those
social and cultural factors. We talked about the
glamorization in the media, the pressures of certain
professions, the association of drugs and alcohol with status
and escape. Powerful.
Influences. They are, yeah.
It makes you question some of those cultural messages.
It does. Are we as a society doing enough
to promote mental health awareness?
Are we doing enough to foster healthy work life balance?
Are we challenging that glorification of excess and
escapism? Really important questions to
consider. Yeah, creating a more supportive
environment, it takes a collective effort.
It's about shifting those broader societal norms and
values. Absolutely, and I think it's
interesting how even the RCMP reports acknowledge the
limitations of their data. Oh, for sure.
They were relying so heavily on that supply based approach,
right, which as we talked about only captures a fraction of
what's really going on. It's like trying to measure the
depth of a lake by only looking at the surface ripple.
Right, you're missing so much of what's happening beneath.
Exactly. And even the data they did have
have was often incomplete or delayed, which makes it even
harder to get an accurate picture.
It's the nature of these clandestine operations.
Things are happening in the shadows, often long before law
enforcement catches up. So you've got this lag between
what's actually happening and when that information becomes
available. And even then you've got a
challenge of interpretation. How much of this data is skewed
by shifting enforcement priorities, by random chance, by
just the constant maneuvering of these criminal networks?
It raises a big question, how effective were these enforcement
efforts in actually addressing the root of the problem?
Right, because you're looking at the outcomes, but not
necessarily the causes. Exactly.
The reports do show some successes.
You know, they talk about large seizures, right?
The disruption of major trafficking operations.
Yeah. But they also acknowledge that
these wins often had a limited impact on overall drug
availability and prices. OK, It goes back to that whack a
mole analogy. You can't just keep knocking
down individual targets, right? You have to address the
underlying system. So you have to deal with both
supply and demand. Precisely.
Did the RCMP reports shed any light on efforts to address the
demand side? They do mention prevention and
treatment programs, but those initiatives were often
underfunded. They were overshadowed by that
focus on enforcement. It's like putting all your
energy into putting out fires without addressing the
conditions that are causing them in the first place.
A good analogy, and I think those personal accounts really
highlight the need for that more holistic approach.
It's not just about getting people to stop using drugs, it's
about helping them heal, build resilience, find a sense of
purpose and belonging in their lives.
It makes you wonder how much has really changed in the 21st
century. That's a good question.
Have we learned from those challenges and limitations that
were outlined in these RCMP reports?
Are we approaching the drug problem in a fundamentally
different way today? It's a great question and one
that I think we need to explore further in the final part of our
deep dive, but I think it's safe to say that some things have
remained constant. Like what?
Well, the human desire for escape, that's not going
anywhere, right? The allure of quick profits.
Yeah, that complex interplay of social, economic and political
forces that shape the drug landscape.
Right. It's never just one thing.
It's this whole web of interconnected factors.
Exactly. So we've covered a lot of ground
in this deep dive, from those historical trends in Canada's
drug scene to the personal stories, you know, that remind
us about the human cost of addiction.
But this story doesn't end in 2001, right?
What can we learn from all this as we look ahead to, you know,
the challenges we face now in the 21st century?
Well, that's the $1,000,000 question, isn't it?
Yeah. I mean, we don't have a crystal
ball, but we can look back and see, you know, some of the
patterns from the past. Draw some insights from that.
Think about how much the world has changed since 2001.
Oh, yeah. The Internet, globalization, a
whole wave of new synthetic drugs.
Yeah, it's like a whole new ball game.
What impact do you think those changes have had on the drug
trade? Well, in a lot of ways, it's
like adding fuel to the fire. The Internet has created new
avenues for trafficking, makes it easier to connect buyers and
sellers, often anonymously. It's also made it easier for
people to access information about drug production.
So, you know, there are concerns about DIY drug manufacturing
becoming more prevalent. Globalization has blurred
borders, made those production and distribution networks even
more complex, more difficult to track.
And the new synthetic drugs, well, they're often more potent,
more addictive, harder to detect.
So yeah, a whole new set of challenges for everyone
involved. It's like this constant game of
catch up. The drug trade is always finding
new ways to adapt and innovate. It makes you wonder, are we
fighting a losing battle? It can feel that way sometimes,
yeah. But I think the key is to kind
of shift our perspective. Instead of just focusing on
eradication, which history has shown as largely ineffective, we
need to adopt A more nuanced and strategic approach, one that
acknowledges, you know, those complex social, economic and
political forces that are driving demand for drugs in the
first place. So it's not just about stopping
the flow of drugs, it's about understanding why people are
turning to them in the first place.
Yeah. And addressing those underlying
issues, OK. So what would that look like in
practice? It's a multi pronged approach
for sure. We need to invest in prevention
programs, you know, target those root causes, poverty, lack of
opportunity, social isolation, mental health issues.
We need to promote those healthy coping mechanisms and
resilience, particularly amongst young people.
And we need to create communities that foster a sense
of belonging and purpose so that people don't feel the need to
escape through substances. It sounds like a pretty
monumental task, requires a shift in mindset, a real
commitment from everyone to address these issues on a
societal level. Yeah.
What about the role of law enforcement?
Do you think their strategies need to change as well?
Definitely, we need to move beyond just interdiction and
punishment. It hasn't really worked that
well. Invest in intelligence
gathering, disruption of those major trafficking networks, but
also adopt A more compassionate and humane approach to those who
are struggling with addiction. Prioritize treatment and
rehabilitation over incarceration.
Recognize that addiction is a health issue, not a criminal
one. Right.
It's not about punishing people, it's about helping them.
And this brings us back to those personal accounts the source
talked about. You know how easily people can
slip into substance use, driven by stress, by social pressure,
the desire to escape? It just highlights the need for
those harm reduction strategies. It does.
Recognizing that people are going to use drugs regardless of
what we do. Harm reduction is so crucial,
you know, acknowledging the reality of drug use and focusing
on minimizing those negative consequences.
Needle exchange programs, safe injection sites, access to
naloxone kits. Yeah, they save lives.
They do. They meet people where they're
at, offer a bridge to treatment and support.
And it's about recognizing the humanity in all of this,
absolutely, even if we don't agree with the choices that
people are making. It's about compassion,
understanding, a willingness to help, not just judge or condemn.
Exactly, and it's important to remember that recovery is
possible. Many people do find their way
out of addiction, but it's rarely easy.
It often involves confronting those deeper issues that led to
substance use in the 1st place. The trauma, the anxiety, that
desperate need for connection. We need to create a system that
supports those people. Yeah, give them the tools and
resources they need to rebuild their lives, for sure.
Well, this has been an incredible deep dive.
We've covered everything from, you know, those historical
trends to the really personal stories that bring this whole
complex issue to life. It's been a great conversation.
So what's one final thought you want to leave our listeners
with? I guess I would just say that
those trends we've talked about, the globalization of the drug
trade, the rise of those synthetic drugs, the Internet as
a facilitator, they all point to a future where these challenges
are only going to become more complex.
But amidst that complexity, we must never lose sight of the
human element. Behind every statistic, every
seizure, every overdose, there's a story, there's a life, a
family impacted by this issue. And that's what should drive our
efforts to find solutions. A recognition that this isn't
just a war on drugs, it's a fight for the well-being of our
communities and the people in them.
That's a really powerful message to end on.
Thank you so much for joining us today and guiding us through
this incredibly complex and often challenging landscape.
It's been my pleasure. And all of our listeners out
there, thank you for tuning into the deep dive.
We encourage you to continue exploring this topic, to learn
more about those social, economic, and political forces
that shape the drug trade, and to think about the ways that we
can all contribute to creating a world where fewer people feel
the need to escape through these substances.
Until next time, keep diving deep.