Pointing Fingers

Recently and in response to the news article below….

Back in the days (3 years ago) when I was a substance/alcohol addict, I’ve been known to hit the drug haven ‘Comfort Zone’, an after hours club in downtown Toronto. The days leading into my ‘rehab’, I came very close to overdosing on ‘GHB’/meth/cocaine, I vomited blood, I blacked out, I woke up in the hospital with IV pipes stuck in my body.

During the 6 years of the addictions, I never once blamed drug dealers for my problem. I knew where to get the drugs, I had sources, I made the choices. I was addicted. It is sad when we hear drug addicts die from their addiction, and families are devastated by it, but who is to blame? It has never come to my mind that drug dealers was the problem to my addiction. I am the reason. I had the problem, I made the choices. If I’ve never gone to them for drugs, I wouldn’t of done it. Unless they kicked my door down and forced the drugs intp me, that’s a different story. It is the same with everything else in life.

If it were drug problem that involved legal drugs, for example the highly addictive Oxycontin or Percocets, do I blame the pharmacist? the doctor that once prescribed it to me for an old problem? NO. 

I am not taking sides, but we can’t blame people for our actions. The drug dealers were sources, and the addicts knew where to go to get their fix. We make choices in life and if we make the wrong choices, there are consequences.  People (family etc) of drug addicts have their part to make sure their loved one’s get the help they need. If you know someone  or if you are someone who suffers from a substance addiction, do whatever you can to get (them) help, or you’ll (they’ll) be another statistic of those who die from drug overdose.

Drug dealers are a source, just like how pharmaceuticals, alcohol companies, gun manufacturers, cigarettes companies, because they’re the one’s who make the damn products.

So while it’s very sad to see someone die from addictions, lend a helping hand to the one’s who desperately need it, it can save a life. It’s about being Pro active.

And now, the news article…

33 arrested in club raid, drugs seized

At a press conference today, police began to unravel the tangled web that led to yesterday morning’s massive raid of a downtown club that resulted in 33 arrests and dozens of charges.

Dubbed project White Rabbit, it started in late January with the accidental overdose death of Andrew Fazio.

Officers from the Hamilton Wentworth Regional Police informed Toronto Police of the 26-year-old’s death, and a subsequent investigation led officers to the Comfort Zone after-hours club at 480 Spadina Ave. where Fazio and his friends allegedly purchased and consumed drugs.

According to police, the six-week investigation by Toronto Police’s 14 Division that followed led to 13 drug-related arrests and seizures of a small amount of drugs. It culminated early yesterday morning in the massive raid of the after-hours hot spot in the city’s core.

Officers from the Toronto Drug Squad, the ETF, TAVIS, Gun and Gang Task force, Organized Crime Enforcement, OPP Biker Enforcement, the Forensic Identification Bureau and Police Dog services were all in on the search warrant.

Police investigated approximately 150 people in the raid, arresting and charging 33 with charges ranging from possession of a controlled substance to immigration and weapons offences.

Police also said that quantities of numerous drugs including cocaine, heroin and ecstasy worth roughly $30,000 plus $35,000 in cash was seized in yesterday’s raid.

A Ryerson student who was inside the club at the time of the raid said he was forced to lie flat on the ground handcuffed for three hours. He said it was announced inside that the club was being raided because of recent overdoses.

Online, clubgoers ranted about being targeted and many asked if anyone knew of a good replacement until the Comfort Zone reopens.

Others noted that most of the "main guys" weren’t even there.

Dan Burke, a booking agent for the adjoining Silver Dollar blues bar, said Comfort Zone is a successful business that doesn’t need to sell drugs.

"I can assure you of two things: the club has never been a booze den. Liquor has never been served down there since its liquor licence expired more than five years ago," Burke said. "And two, if there are any drugs sold or purchased in there, the staff, management and ownership has no involvement in it whatsoever. There is absolutely no way the owners or staff were involved because I know all of them."

One witness estimated as many as 80 police officers descended on Comfort Zone. A TTC bus had been chartered to transport the charged individuals and a court services truck was also on site.

Some locals speculate the drugs come from the Chinese mafia, although a staffer said that was absolutely not true. "No bikers work there. No guns are in there and none of the staff are drug dealers."