Blogger, Artist, Social Media, Web Designer, Photographer- I blog about nouns-people, places and things, even when it's negative I try to put a positive spin on it. @tinawinterlikfb https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.com
Recently, Health Canada issued a warning about unauthorized "mood and stress" supplements sold online and in Alberta under the name Natrol DHEA Mood & Stress 25mg. Marketed as natural vitamins, they contained DHEA, a controlled substance in Canada linked to hormone imbalances, psychiatric issues, and even increased suicide risk.
These weren’t approved by Health Canada—but they were still sold to people desperate for relief.
I’ve lived through this story—from the inside.
💬 English | Anglais | Inglés
I watched my mom suffer—not just from chronic pain, but from the pills that were supposed to help her. She was prescribed so many. I remember her taking nine pills a day. She just wanted relief.
But I saw the damage. I knew I couldn’t stay.
At nearly 28, I left. I moved 9 hours away. I quit smoking, lost 35 pounds, and started over.
In 1999, after I lost my job at a mapping company, I flew to Rarotonga for six weeks—carrying a suitcase full of vitamins, still looking for a fix.
But when I became a mom, I let it all go. I was poor and alone, but I chose real food, clean water, walks, rest, and presence. We didn’t take vitamins. We avoided pills.
But my kid still struggled. Depression hit hard. A doctor gave them medication with this warning:
"May cause suicidal thoughts in people under 19."
And it did.
But they survived.
That’s why I speak up—because people are still being sold hope in a bottle. But healing takes more than a label. It takes truth, safety, and community.
💚 Mental Health Helplines – Canada, Quebec, Mexico, USA
🇫🇷 Une pilule pour chaque problème ? Pas chez moi.
Par Tina Winterlik alias Zipolita
Récemment, Santé Canada a émis un avertissement concernant des suppléments d’humeur non autorisés vendus en Alberta et en ligne. Le produit contenait du DHEA, une substance contrôlée, pouvant causer des déséquilibres hormonaux, des effets psychiatriques graves, voire un risque accru de suicide.
J’ai vu ce genre de choses… chez ma mère.
Elle prenait jusqu’à neuf pilules par jour. Elle cherchait un soulagement. Moi, je voyais qu’elle souffrait plus encore.
J’ai quitté la maison à presque 28 ans. J’ai arrêté de fumer. J’ai changé ma vie.
En 1999, après avoir perdu mon emploi, je suis allée à Rarotonga pendant six semaines, avec une valise pleine de vitamines. Mais quand je suis devenue mère, j’ai arrêté tout ça. J’ai choisi la nourriture, le repos, l’amour.
Mon enfant a quand même traversé une dépression. Un médecin a prescrit un médicament :
« Peut causer des idées suicidaires chez les personnes de moins de 19 ans. »
Et c’est arrivé.
Mais il a survécu.
Alors je parle. Parce que l’espoir ne doit pas être vendu en capsule.
🇪🇸 ¿Una pastilla para cada problema? No en mi casa.
Por Tina Winterlik alias Zipolita
Salud de Canadá advirtió sobre suplementos no autorizados vendidos como vitaminas en Alberta. El producto DHEA Mood & Stress contenía una sustancia controlada con riesgos hormonales y psiquiátricos —incluyendo riesgo de suicidio.
He vivido algo muy similar.
Mi mamá tomaba hasta nueve pastillas al día. Solo quería dejar de sufrir. Pero vi cómo empeoraba. A los 28 años me fui, dejé de fumar, bajé de peso.
En 1999, después de perder mi trabajo, viajé a Rarotonga por 6 semanas cargando muchas vitaminas. Pero cuando nació mi hija, dejé todo eso. Escogí comida real, amor, descanso.
Aun así, mi hija cayó en una profunda depresión. El médico recetó una medicina con esta advertencia:
“Puede causar pensamientos suicidas en menores de 19 años.”
Y así fue.
Pero sobrevivió.
Por eso hablo. Porque la salud no debería venderse en una botella.
🌍✨ Peace and Love — A Call from the Heart of a Beatles Kid ✨🌍
I was born in 1962 — right into the heart of a revolution. Not the kind with flags and armies, but the kind that moves through music, laughter, long hair, and dreams of a better world.
My older sibling — twelve years ahead of me — loved the Beatles. I mean, who didn’t? They were lucky enough to see them live at the Vancouver Coliseum. Can you imagine? That energy, those screams, that magic. It left a mark on my childhood in the best possible way.
When I was about four or five, we all piled into a big ol’ Volkswagen Bug and drove to a drive-in theatre to watch HELP! Yes, the actual movie. It was wild, colourful, funny, and full of songs that would become the soundtrack of my life.
I grew up singing "I Want to Hold Your Hand", "Love Me Do", and so many more. We said things like peace and love like it was just how people were supposed to be. And even as the Beatles evolved — got more political, more philosophical — I felt like I was evolving with them. Their music helped me question, grow, and even revolt when the world didn’t feel right.
And oh, Ringo. I had the biggest crush. He was the underdog — quirky, lovable, and sweet. In Help! they wanted to chop off his hand just because of the ring! 😬 But even then, he was so calm and adorable. I was hooked.
From "Revolution" to "Power to the People", from John to Paul to George and Ringo — the Beatles imprinted something deep in my soul: a belief that peace, love, and music really can change the world.
So here’s my ask — simple, small, but powerful.
Today, at noon — wherever you are — say “Peace and Love.”
Out loud. Whispered. Shouted. Sung. It doesn’t matter.
Different time zones? Doesn’t matter. Every hour, somewhere on this Earth, it will be noon. And every time someone says “Peace and Love,” we send a wave of light around the globe.
Please do it. Do it now if you think you’ll forget.
It’s not silly.
It’s love.
Don’t blow it off. This is our world, and we can fill it with something better than fear, anger, or apathy.
🌸✌️💛 I send you peace and love.
– Tina aka Zipolita
Title: "Homelessness is a Disaster—It’s Time to Respond with Compassion"
Homelessness in Canada is more than a crisis—it’s a disaster. Imagine the aftermath of a hurricane or earthquake: people displaced, lives uprooted, and communities in despair. Now imagine the response. Teams of skilled individuals rush to the scene with supplies, medical care, and plans to rebuild. This is how we respond to disasters.
So why don’t we treat homelessness the same way?
I’ve been unhoused since 2019, living out of two suitcases. My child has faced the same struggles, enduring the pain and instability of homelessness. We’re not alone. Thousands of Canadians—mothers, fathers, seniors, young adults—are navigating the same impossible reality.
But this isn’t just about me. It’s about the people in encampments across British Columbia and beyond. These aren’t criminals or failures—they’re our neighbors, veterans, educators, and caregivers. Many have been hurt by abusive relationships, systemic neglect, and a society that values profits over people. They are living in what feels like a war zone.
We need a M.A.S.H. (Mobile Assistance and Support Hub) model: a compassionate, trauma-informed, community-led approach to homelessness.
--
How the M.A.S.H. Model Works:
1. Mobile, Flexible Teams: Go to where the people are—encampments, parks, and streets—with small teams offering immediate care.
2. Comprehensive Services: Provide basic necessities, medical care, mental health support, addiction resources, and housing options.
3. Respectful Approach: Replace uniforms with friendly faces. Build trust through peer support and trauma-informed care.
4. Empowered Decisions: Allow team members to make real-time decisions to provide solutions immediately, cutting through bureaucracy.
5. Cultural Sensitivity: Ensure services are inclusive, especially for Indigenous and marginalized communities.
---
Avoiding Retraumatization: Healing Over Control
Homelessness is often the result of layers of trauma—domestic abuse, family breakdowns, and systemic failure. It’s vital that our solutions do no further harm.
Build Trust: Approach individuals with kindness and respect, avoiding judgment or force.
Offer Choices: Give people autonomy in how they engage with help.
Provide Privacy: Avoid invading personal space and respect their belongings.
Tailor Support: Include mental health specialists, addiction counselors, and peer workers with lived experience.
Collaborate: Work alongside individuals to co-create solutions that empower and uplift.
---
A Call to Action
This isn’t just a government problem; it’s a community issue. We need to advocate for solutions that prioritize care and dignity. Homelessness is a disaster, and disasters demand urgent, compassionate responses.
What can you do?
Share this message and advocate for a M.A.S.H. model.
Volunteer or donate to organizations addressing homelessness.
Pressure your local representatives to take immediate, compassionate action.
Let’s rebuild lives and communities with love, care, and respect.
Do you ever feel really small and think what can I do. Are you tired?
I am. Sometimes I feel like I want to quit this blog but then I read something and I think...this needs a voice. I am small, right now I am poor and at the end of the month homeless, I am single mom of a beautiful 15 year old girl and this fentanyl crisis is freaking me out. I haven't personally lost any friends or family to this crisis but I do know many who have and it's devastating. Any loss of life is devastating. GRIEF! Been there.
I come up with all these cRaZy thoughts and my kids says "what are you on?" Nothing! I just have these ideas that pop into my head. Insights! Right now to me, it feels like this Fentanyl crisis is very similar to the small pox epidemic. Many people don't really know about it, we are just learning more as those enlightened enough delve into the muddy waters of so called "Reconciliation."
We are losing so many lives on the DTES (everywhere) but the stats are showing it's a high percentage of First Nation women. The matriarchs! These poor souls who have suffered so much already from the legacy of the Residential schools, from being in Foster Care, from being pushed aside and forgotten by society..these single moms, these children, homeless, preyed upon by other sick souls and the very government that is supposedly elected to protect used and abused them and just single parents in general. OUR SOCIETY IS REALLY F*KED UP!!
IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THIS WAY! I could go on a long rant about how we are supposed to be hunters and gatherers and 200 years ago, at this time of year huge amounts of salmon would be arriving and the men would be helping fishing and women would be cleaning, drying the salmon. The women would be harvesting berries, the women would be gathering roots and making cedar clothes. Everyone would be working and getting ready for winter. Everyone had a job, home, and love...NOT LIKE NOW!!
Am I making any sense? Women had women to rely on. They had children but they could find their own food and if you study anthropology- is they provided most of the diet. But in today's women, especially single moms are treated like shit. Either you work yourself to death and have someone else raise your child (i.e. lovely hard working Philipino nanny ) and your kid has her morals, not yours...because you weren't there...or you have to live in precarious oppressive situations or God forbid the government swoops in and steals your child.
Why do you think these women are using drugs. To numb the pain of all that I just mentioned.
Enter Fentanyl. BIG PHARMA!
This is going to be a long rant, you might want to get a coffee and some kind of treat because this is ugly shit and not nice to talk about but I need to vent here and if you want to stick around well, I hope I enlighten you or if you are already maybe you can share.
My arms are already sore from typing...I've got tendonitis, so I can't type to much for to long. It's why I can't take many labour jobs, it's why I should be on disability but disability is as evil and de-humanizing as welfare. It's not enough to live on, proving your poor is humility, proving you can't actually work is even more exhausting and depressing and I refuse to grovel to the government- unknown entities who see you as a number and can dismiss you with a keystroke. So many suffer from this useless system. And Christy Clark, thank god she's gone she help propel this shit to the level it is. And John Horgan, while I love what you have been doing so far, $100 extra month is NOTHING!! NOTHING!! NOTHING!! NOTHING!! NOTHING!! NOTHING!!
WE NEED BASIC INCOME NOW FOR ALL SINGLE PARENTS!!!
(and tiny houses on all the streets, close them, hook the houses up to street facilities, plant gardens everywhere, shut down all the shipping and shit, use local only, clean up the harbour, bring back OUR SALMON, teach our kids how to survive with no F*CKNG electricity, because WHEN THAT SOLAR STORM, earthquake, Tsunami, hurricane, flood, or god forbid MOON misses the U.S. and hits us...help our child have some sort of tools to survive.. even if it's just a few.. DO IT FOR OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN)
whew! breathe...1, 2, 3... That feels a little better. I needed to vomit that all up! BLAK!
Last night on the news this lady was saying about all these kids in OTTAWA starting back to school and they were afraid for them. One mom said that when she was young if you smoked a joint it wasn't the end of the world..now maybe it is.
I remember when I was little... 12 ...my sister she gave me this book called GO ASK ALICE, it was supposed to warn me about drugs, because people were doing LSD and jumping off roofs and shit..in honesty ...it made me want to do drugs. Go figure!
DRUGS... WHAT ARE THEY? Let's talk about that for a minute.
My mom had open heart surgery when I was 14, she had all sorts of health issues, she may have had Lupus we don't know, she hurt all the time. She was on meds up the ying yang. She took prenizone, you know that one, it's evil. After she had been on it 10 years we read it caused all sorts of evil things. She died 10 years ago. GRIEF- remember I mentioned it above...hit me really hard. My mom was grieving for years. My dad took his life when I was 11 years old. She had 3 teens to raise, she had 4 kids but the oldest was already married and all that pressure took it's toll on them ...I remember mom saying to me...that she had to get a job or the welfare would take us. When my dad took his life there life insurance was void. My mom was an incredibly strong beautiful loving woman and she survived, she raised us and she got me through school even though I encountered some awful teachers and wanted to quit so bad. She survived another heart attack later on when my child was just 5 months. She hurt all the time and BIG PHARMA was pumping her full of drugs.
I remember near the end. I was so scared. I had had a falling out with my family, I had no money. My kids dad is Mexican, he is lucky he make $20 a day so he can't help...and we are not together, so I get nothing. I am on my own...anyways, I had social assistance when my kid was born up until 3. Then they were kicking me off so I figured out how to get into a Co-op, some really lovely people helped an I managed to move but I didn't want some people to know...I was just scared...scared all the time...just like so many of these single moms/dad, aunties, caring for kids...that the welfare system will come steal our kids and force them into some evil situation where they will be abused, used and preyed upon..(a lovely legacy of the residential school-(sarcasm here...I hope you realize).
Anyways, my mom was in terrible pain, she couldn't take alot of pain killers and she called an asked me could I please get her some medical marijuana...she was ready to try anything...and I was living in Nelson- and green was BC underground ecomony and how we survived the recession if you are clueless to such things. But I told her no. I was scared. I was so scared someone would see me and then I would lose my kid.
Why am I telling you all this? If you are still with me...Hello! Thanks for listening.
Drugs. They are F*KING EVIL. but what kind of drugs. In the sixties parents were afraid of LSD, in the 80's is was cocaine, in the 90's it was crack, in 2000 we were back to heroin (thanks to 9/11) and now it's a FENTANYL CRISIS!
Where's it coming from? I heard it's coming from China, ...the heroin is coming from Iraq, Iran, Afganistan...I don't know...somewhere like that, because of the wars, and it's coming up from Mexico and South America...along with cocaine.. all thanks to the lovely WAR ON DRUGS. War makes wars...just in a different way. NEGATIVE ENERGY FEEDS IT!
So if you looked back in history and at true Indigenous- hunting gathering societies, they all have medicinal herbs that the shamans/medicine man/woman/two-spirits/peoples gave to people who were dealing with GRIEF or some other kind of troubling event.
Did you ever see IN THE HEART OF THE WORLD. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRgTtrQOiR0 they warned us back in 1990's to take care, that we were screwing up the world and we better stop. They use the coca leaf to think well, to find answers to their problems, the shaman guides them.
So what's my point about all this. My point is where is the connection and disconnection.
Do you think that someone who has a home, food to eat, children to raise, is surrounded by loving people is going to turn to "drugs". Maybe is someone they love dies, or many and they are in grief the shaman would help them. But what is happening right now if you STEP BACK and LOOK at the big picture is that women are being thrown aside, their children must suffer the consquences and you have EVIL BIG PHARMA spewing forth it's vomit onto poor suffering souls.
The opiate crisis is at it's peak because doctors- (so called healers.. ya right) have been medicating people with DRUGS to stop chronic pain, to medicate (depression), to zombize (ADHD) our children...
Apparently dealers put a little bit of fentanyl in one packet so someone purposely od's leading users to thing that it's super high quality and they risk getting it because they want the best high. Doctors/BIG PHARMA created this issue by prescribing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxycodone
for pain. https://www.drugs.com/oxycontin.html
Is any of this making sense...it's what they did and our doing to our First Nations, especially our BEAUTIFUL STRONG MATRIARCHS, the women who fought so hard to raise strong young men and women to carry on. It's colonialism, yes, and the legacy of the residential schools and corporate greed, it's today's government and society using and abusing the most vulnerable..the women and children. They are wiping out the women, women who love the earth and wan to protect their mother. They are wiping out the mothers. https://tinawinterlik.blogspot.ca/2017/06/do-it-for-every-child-taken-june-is.html
HOW DO WE RISE? HOW DO WE CHANGE THIS? With art right? We resist, we share?
What else can I do at the moment. So this morning I came across the first article shared and thought what can I do, to give this man a voice, to give a voice to everyone who has lost someone they loved to this evilness. And that's why I made this post. So I am sharing. It's all I can do because I am having a hard time keeping my head above the water...I am trying not to drown...just as the mother, our beautiful mothers, and mother earth is drowning.
Use ART LIKE A DRUG!! Heal yourself, save your friends, RISE UP and let's take back the control. Let's save the mothers, grandmothers, children and let's SAVE MOTHER EARTH. She doesn't need us but I think she still loves us just like all your inhabitants, but if we keep hurting her, hurting each other, hurting ourselves..well she will hurt us..she won't mean to but she will just be protecting herself. Does that makes sense? Are you still here!! THANK YOU!
Thank you! If you have read even some of this page, thank you. I hope that teachers, parents, professors, doctors, everyone will read my page and share it and discuss what I am saying. We need to calm down, but we need to rise in a peace way. We need to reach out support and love one another.
In the video above Deepak Chopra says something about "we think we are outside of nature, we are not, we are part of nature, maybe if we calm down, nature will calm down" (not a direct quote, to tired to go get it)
BUT ISN'T IS OBVIOUS!
With all the awful energy, with the hate being spewed in the world, especially of late, no wonder the storms are getting bigger...yes our ignorance and disrespect of mother earth is causing climate change but you must get to a much higher level and step back and see it for what it is. Energy. We are all energy.. positive and negative energy...it has to go somewhere... how will we use that energy, our energy. One day our energy will go back into the earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust...let's call upon our ancestors, the positive energies of the universe to help us in this hour of need. Let's reach out and love one another, let's help each other. Do it for our children's children.
Sending love and light. I love you all. I love the water, the ocean, the dirt, the birds, the sacred cedar trees, the moon, the sun, I love everything and I ask you to think, eat and pray love like that book says. Be love today. Let's turn things around.
"During a portion of the interview, Fonda stood with her hand on the
shoulder of Cleo Desjarlais Reece, a member of the Fort McMurray First
Nation.
The two had lunch together, and Desjarlais Reece said they talked
about the greed of corporations that place profits above the health of
people and the environment.
Reece, also a member of anti-oilsands group Keepers of the Athabasca,
defended Fonda's visit. She said she disagreed with those who
say celebrity tours are merely circuses that distract from important
issues."
"We do not control the media, obviously," she said. "Anytime [we get]
a chance to give our side of the story and tell our truth, I think that
is very important for us.
The voices of Indigenous groups, Desjarlais Reece said, are often heard only when celebrities show up.
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/07/20/gop-adopts-bernie-sanders_n_11088218.html SO WHY IS THE GOP ADOPTING A DEMOCRATIC PARTY POLICY PROPOSAL?
One
reason why the Republican Party is adopting this proposal could be the
hope of appealing to Sanders supporters who don't want to vote for
Hillary Clinton. While restoring Glass-Steagall was in the Democratic
Party's preliminary 2016 platform, the Clinton campaign does not argue
for the return of Glass-Steagall.
Yikes!!! Please donate so we can get some sanity back in the world. Thank you!
THANK YOU JUSTIN TRUDEAU!!
Your dad must be so proud. He is smiling down at you and your mom must be SUPER PROUD!! and you wife and kids. This is a really big thing. Maybe Christy Clark will take a lesson from you. Maybe all politicians, and people of wealth will wake up and realize it's important to help us, help parents and kids because it's f____g hard to survive in this world. Anyways THANK YOU AGAIN! VERY GRATEFUL!!
THANK YOU also to Jean-Yves Duclos- YOU ROCK TOO!!!
"The poverty rate for children in Canada will fall from about 11.2 per
cent to 6.7 per cent," says Jean-Yves Duclos, the federal minister of
Families, Children and Social Development, which is responsible for the
program.
HEY JUSTIN, if anyone tries to give you any flack you just show them this clip!! Ha! Ha!
"Doesn't make the better citizens, doesn't it make them better customers?"
It's a beautiful day! I am so grateful!
The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There's no room No space to rent in this town
You're out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you're not moving anywhere
You thought you'd found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace
It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
You're on the road
But you've got no destination
You're in the mud
In the maze of her imagination
You're lovin' this town
Even if that doesn't ring true
You've been all over
And it's been all over you
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me I know I'm not a hopeless case
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day Don't let it get away Beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place Reach me I know I'm not a hopeless case
What you don't have you don't need it now
What you don't know you can feel it somehow
What you don't have you don't need it now
Don't need it now
Was a beautiful day
Thank you again!! Big Hugs of Gratitude coming your way!!
South African Fire Fighters, arriving in Alberta to help the Fort Mac wildfire This is incredible, especially loved the end. Someone from Q.E. Theatre should bring them to Vancouver BC for a performance. THEY ROCK!! Sending love and light they stay safe and they can return to their loved ones just as they left.
If you would like to read my story on the South African firefighters, it's right here:https://t.co/Eiy1Bf0YmA
Some people thought it up and it started as a joke but it's rallying people and people are talking and if you want change it has to start at a grass roots level.
I made a bunch of suggestions of what we could do while there.
And why should young people or any age spend $$$$$ for education and then suddenly they have to pay ridiculous rents.
How can a woman have children when their is no security, how can children grow into health adults being raised in poverty- when the daily stress of making choices between paying rent and food or the laundry, transporation, medicine, clothes, shoes...
Article 25: Right to an adequate standard of living
Which activities should we pass the time with?
(Remember employees
WILL be working during office hours; we shouldn't disturb them as they
are trying to fix the housing crisis)
Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the
health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food,
clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services,
and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness,
disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in
circumstances beyond his control.
Motherhood and childhood
are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether
born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
"Emergency funding from Red Cross"
"People who have given the Red
Cross an email address will receive the funds through e-transfer in the
next 24 to 48 hours. The Red Cross said if you didn’t provide an email,
they will reach out to you."
“No matter where they are
in Canada, we will reach out,” Conrad Sauve, president and CEO of the
Canadian Red Cross said. “We will take care of you wherever you are.”
He called the emergency funding effort the most important and fastest direct cash transfer in the organization’s history. Read More Here
Distribution centres for pre-loaded debit cards from the
Alberta government will be set up for Fort McMurray wildfire evacuees at
the following locations.
Courtesy, Alberta government
“In order
to allow for immediate distribution to people who are in most urgent
need, we are asking evacuees who aren’t in dire need of these funds to
wait a few days before claiming them.
“These funds will be available for some time, and no eligible evacuee will miss out.”
Seniors,
individuals with mobility issues, those with special needs and others
who are in Alberta but unable to apply in person at a debit card
location can contact 310-4455 to make alternative arrangements. Read More Here
and here are her most recent tweets and comments (below).
Now I was surprised at her tweets today and wanted to help out. So I asked if I could share them here to bring attention to this, can you help amplify this and get more help to these people. What if this were you? or your mom, sister, friend?
So many live month to month, if we were displaced, where would we go? What help would TRULY be there. Having been through the system a few times more than I like here in BC, I can imagine it is the same everywhere. Praying and sending loving supportful thoughts to everyone that they can get more help and answers sooner than later.
