Drug users make community less safe
It sickens me to hear the desperate plea from Florie Varga fall on deaf ears of all three levels of government to put drug addicts ahead of our children and seniors.
I drive on York Street frequently and feel anxious for my safety, even when I am in my car.
We were assured when Warmland was built that it was going to be safe. There was going to be no loitering. It was going to be a transition home for women. It turns out to be all lies. There has been camping on Lewis Street, a rise in assaults and property damage and theft. Seniors are marginalized because they are afraid to leave their buildings. Yet the government feels if they enable drug addicts a safe place to shoot up, things are going to get better. It has not worked in any other place in Canada! Having such a place will encourage more drug addicts to migrate to our town.
Students walk right past this building multiple times a day to access classes at both the high school and Quamichan school. They walk to the fast food restaurants daily. I was so sad to hear children saying, “they have gotten used to having to deal with the druggies”.
Youth enter the work field at fast food outlets, such as McDonalds, Wendy’s, Tim Hortons. All in this area. I would never allow my child to work at any of these establishments on the sole reason of the druggies loitering around. There has been actual physical fighting in McDonalds.
If the governments are bent to have such a place, I suggest finding a place outside of town where they can rehab and get the mental health care they require. A lot of these people do not have the mental capacity to think for themselves and need a safe place to live under supervision.
Isabel Dodge
Duncan