Covid-19 Diaries: Drugs, Crime, Guns, and All The Ships At Sea

The following are stories from Victoria, B.C during the covid-19 crisis.

I can't prove any of these tales, but I believe them all to be true.

Drugs. Need Some Heroin or Meth?

Apparently street drugs are difficult to get right now. I've heard that prices have doubled. This is because there are far fewer ships coming here to the island and air travel has all but halted. The border with the USA has been closed for a couple of weeks now. So... no drugs from China and no drugs coming in from Seattle.

The drugs are still around though. The tent cities popping up in parks have led to needles being found on the grass and walkways. My friend Jane found a needle yesterday while walking her dog. Where is the money coming from to pay for these now-expensive drugs?

Crime

Armed robberies have increased. Automobile break-ins are reported to have increased dramatically. A neighbour explained it to me like this: suppose you needed to break into a few cars per night to steal things to pay for your drugs... how many cars do you need to break into now? How about double? Make sense?

Someone was in my backyard last night but the only thing missing is a pair of black leather gloves. Nothing valuable. What comes next? I figure muggings and home invasions will be increasing soon. That scares me.

Guns

Contrary to popular belief, we have plenty of guns in Canada. You can't own a semi-automatic weapon like an AR-15, but we do have millions of hunting rifles and shotguns. Gun shops are currently experiencing a huge increase in sales. Here are two anecdotal stories to illustrate my point:

A friend of mine in Toronto knows the owner of a gun shop in Oshawa, Ontario. The store owner says business has never been better. Never! Not at Christmas, or even on Valentines Day! I got a chuckle out of that last part. 😜

Yesterday my neighbour told me there was a huge line-up to buy ammo at the local Canadian Tire store. (Canadian Tire is a national chain of stores which sell automotive goods, hardware, and sporting goods.) What's up with all the purchases of guns and ammunition? Customers were asked and the most common response was they wanted to do some target practice. Really? Nobody with a shotgun needs to do "target practice". Clearly this is due to fear of crime, home invasion and possibly a full break-down of society. Hey... maybe it's also fear of the police, who knows?

All the ships at sea...

photo by me, @keithboone

It has now become a daily world-wide event to make noise at 7:00 PM in support of our healthcare workers and to celebrate their efforts in saving lives. Locally, the noise-making has really been ramping up over the past few days. People go outside and bang pots and pans, they yell and scream, now and then I hear fireworks. Last night, Friday, April 3rd, was the first night I heard church bells and police sirens added to the mix. I get very emotional when I hear all the noise... it makes me incredibly sad for the people who are sick. I know it's supposed to be a testament to the human spirit, to our will to carry on, but I always tear up when I hear it. Last night there was one more addition to the noise making. Passing ships have started to sound their horns at 7:00 PM. This a noise that carries for miles, and what a mournful sound it is. So that's the latest thing that pulls on my heart-strings and makes me want to cry. All the ships at sea.