File Photo (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Coroner is wrong; we shouldn’t live with public drug consumption

Jan 31, 2024 | 5:55 AM

BC CORONER LISA LAPOINTE effectively though unintentionally articulates pretty much everything that’s wrong with allowing the consumption of illicit drugs in public.

According to the retiring coroner, we should accept seeing drug addicts — she apparently dislikes the use of that term — using their illicit drugs in places such as parks or near bus stops or playgrounds.

Sure, she says, it’s “not comfortable” for the rest of us but we all get to “return to our warm homes and beds and showers” while drug users are left to deal with their addictions.

On behalf of all of us taxpayers who are not addicted and are fortunate enough to have warm homes and beds and showers, I want to say that I’m tired of being made to feel guilty about that.

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Lapointe should consider the concerns of those who object to losing their enjoyment of the public amenities and services they’ve paid for because of David Eby’s decriminalization pilot project.

She should consider the drug paraphernalia litter that results from public drug use, which poses a particular danger to children.

She insists those dangers are slight but has no research to back it up, nor any research to show the entire decriminalization project is doing any good. Certainly, the fact that there are more overdose deaths now than there were before decriminalization is research enough that the program isn’t working.

And, really, aren’t we being a little over-sensitive on the de-stigmatization front? A drug addict is someone who is addicted to drugs. Eliminating the term doesn’t help anyone become un-addicted.

We all understand that there’s no shame in being addicted to drugs. There’s no shame in being homeless rather than “unhoused.” The only shame is in some of the actions that result.

So, certainly, more housing, treatment, rehab and the best of medical care are needed. But people have a right to enjoy the communities they’ve built, too. Something that Lapointe seems unable to grasp.

I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.

Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.

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Editor’s Note: This opinion piece reflects the views of its author, and does not necessarily represent the views of CFJC Today or Pattison Media.