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Premier Doug Ford’s plan to close 10 safe consumption sites (SCS) comes as no surprise.
Conservative politicians, at all government levels, have always opposed such a harm reduction model.
The announcement of 19 new Homelessness and Addiction and Recovery (HART) hubs, plus 375 supportive housing units is good news, but that should be part of the continued operation of SCS sites, to help those who want to rid themselves of this terrible disease.
There are many who cannot beat their demons and are hopelessly addicted and their only hope for survival is harm reduction and they should be able to access that in a safe supervised environment with professional medical and addiction staff. Thousands of people in our communities die from opioid toxicity causing anguish for families.
The Ford government has a double standard when it comes to alcohol/drug addiction. The same rhetoric and fear mongering went on when cannabis first became legal; only 25 licences were going to be allotted in Ontario and were to be 150 metres away from a school.
Well, now there is one on every corner and once the government saw the cash flow, everything went numb. Recently, Mr. Ford announced that soon you will be able to buy booze in convenience stores, where students from nearby schools are frequent customers.
You would think Mr. Ford, whose brother battled addiction, would be more concerned about saving lives of the most vulnerable in our society. Yes, Mr. Ford, alcohol is a drug that also kills thousands, wreaks havoc on families, wastes valuable police services dealing with violence related to impairment and over burdens our already stressed health-care system.
There never has been a person born who said I want to become an alcoholic or a drug addict and hope to be sitting on a dingy corner shooting poison into their arm or drinking family, job and health away.
There is a percentage of the population who, because no fault of their own, are easily addicted to a substance, be it alcohol, gambling or opioids. And when that happens society and the government has a responsibility to help those people through treatment, counselling, education, community supportive services and, yes, safe consumption sites.
Ken Robertson
Collingwood
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