Years into a drug overdose crisis, Canada is facing backlash against government-sanctioned programs such as legal injection sites designed to keep users alive without curtailing drug use.
The British Columbia government has walked back a pilot project to decriminalize small quantities of illicit drugs in public places in the province. Police there also are prosecuting activists seeking to make safe drugs available.
And the man who may become Canada’s next prime minister, Conservative Pierre Poilievre, has said he wants to shut down some sites where users can legally consume illicit drugs under supervision, calling them “drug dens.”
The backlash reflects growing fears in Canada over the use of narcotics in public spaces, encampments where drug use is seen as common, and the specter of needles in playgrounds. Some critics of the so-called harm reduction programs see a rising number of overdose deaths in Canada as evidence that existing measures are not working.
But public health experts worry that dialing back the programs would endanger the health and lives of drug users, contributing to even more deaths.
as someone who volunteers and works with homeless people, few of which are addicts, you hit the nail on the head. I mean I’ve had other co-workers, some who even used to be homeless themselves, refuse to help addicts or keep them at a distance. They don’t care if they die and see it as a benefit if they do. One former homeless guy that I work with regularly told me “the addicts steal your stuff constantly, they cause problems in shelters, they wake you up in the middle of the night, I don’t care for them.”
There’s a lot of resentment towards addicts in the homeless community who feel that services and programs are tailored specifically to addicts who take advantage. There’s also the fact that simply being homeless means the rest of society instantly lumps them in with the addicts thus making attempts to recieve help and services much more difficult for sober homeless invididuals. there’s the constant stigma that if you’re homeless you’re obviously an addict which simply isn’t the case.
So I get it, I see it first hand. No one wants to deal with addicts on all fronts. people who are housed and unhoused don’t want to deal with them.
If you want to decriminalize it then fine, go for it, but you god damn well better make sure you have the supports in place before you even think about doing so. Otherwise it’s all for naught. Because even programs currently in place for homeless addicts aren’t working and most of the homeless programs in place are geared towards addicts. Therefore people who aren’t addicts and are homeless essentially are told “deal with it on your own, we have nothing for you, we’re here to help the ones that don’t want the help.”
It’s a whole system from top to bottom that needs to go back to the drawing board.
Funny, because the majority of people at the shelters my partner works are addicts. They don’t necessarily arrive as addicts, but they usually leave that way. Maybe things are different here.
yeah I don’t work in a shelter and I’d say the majority of people I do work with refuse to stay in shelters for the reason you stated. Most in shelters are full of addicts.
that’s just the common consensus I hear from people “I won’t stay in a shelter because the addicts will steal my stuff”.
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as someone who volunteers and works with homeless people, few of which are addicts, you hit the nail on the head. I mean I’ve had other co-workers, some who even used to be homeless themselves, refuse to help addicts or keep them at a distance. They don’t care if they die and see it as a benefit if they do. One former homeless guy that I work with regularly told me “the addicts steal your stuff constantly, they cause problems in shelters, they wake you up in the middle of the night, I don’t care for them.”
There’s a lot of resentment towards addicts in the homeless community who feel that services and programs are tailored specifically to addicts who take advantage. There’s also the fact that simply being homeless means the rest of society instantly lumps them in with the addicts thus making attempts to recieve help and services much more difficult for sober homeless invididuals. there’s the constant stigma that if you’re homeless you’re obviously an addict which simply isn’t the case.
So I get it, I see it first hand. No one wants to deal with addicts on all fronts. people who are housed and unhoused don’t want to deal with them.
If you want to decriminalize it then fine, go for it, but you god damn well better make sure you have the supports in place before you even think about doing so. Otherwise it’s all for naught. Because even programs currently in place for homeless addicts aren’t working and most of the homeless programs in place are geared towards addicts. Therefore people who aren’t addicts and are homeless essentially are told “deal with it on your own, we have nothing for you, we’re here to help the ones that don’t want the help.”
It’s a whole system from top to bottom that needs to go back to the drawing board.
Funny, because the majority of people at the shelters my partner works are addicts. They don’t necessarily arrive as addicts, but they usually leave that way. Maybe things are different here.
yeah I don’t work in a shelter and I’d say the majority of people I do work with refuse to stay in shelters for the reason you stated. Most in shelters are full of addicts.
that’s just the common consensus I hear from people “I won’t stay in a shelter because the addicts will steal my stuff”.