I don’t particularly care what your opinion is of people who are addicted to drugs, the cold hard facts are that drug use and abuse is skyrocketing around this country and we need to contain it so the rest of the public is not in danger.
Safe consumption sites aren’t going to introduce new people to using hard drugs. It’s not like walking into a liquor store on your 19th birthday to pick up your first six-pack.
Safe consumption sites are proven to keep dirty needles off the streets. Keep them out of playgrounds where our children play. These contained sites have professionals on site to administer the drugs in a safe, sanitary environment and also offer counselling to encourage and support users to quit.
Needles don’t leave the site. They don’t end up in playgrounds and schools and back alleys. They stay on site and are discarded by professionals. They are not re-used to spread disease, they are discarded safely and securely to keep the rest of the community safe.
It just makes sense.
What we’re doing now isn’t working. The epidemic is becoming more and more severe and we haven’t caught up to it with the urgency it requires.
Kids are getting hurt. A little girl was just rushed to the hospital today for stepping on a used needle at the splash park at Skaha Lake. A teenager was hit by a car on the highway because she was too afraid to go through the underpass because she believed someone was in the tunnel high as a kite.
It needs to be contained. I’ll say it again. It needs to be contained.
We need safe consumption sites for the safety of the entire city, dirty needles need to discarded safely, not left scattered carelessly throughout the city. It’s getting so far out of hand, you have to act now. Like now.
Jaimie Miller-Haywood
Penticton