File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Mel Rothenburger

ARMCHAIR MAYOR

ROTHENBURGER: Pointing the finger for allowing drugs and guns in hospitals

Apr 11, 2024 | 5:55 AM

IF YOU’VE BEEN WONDERING who to blame for allowing illicit drug consumption and weapons in B.C. hospitals, and leakage from the “safe” drug supply, here’s the answer: whoever’s in government, anywhere.

And who will fix the problem? Easy: whichever political parties are not in government, anywhere.

For the past couple of weeks, BC United MLAs have been hammering the NDP over a leaked memo from Northern Health directing hospital staff not to confiscate weapons from patients, or try to stop them from consuming illicit drugs in their rooms.

That’s been followed with the revelation that Island Health provides lockboxes so patients can store their weapons and drugs, but gives them the key so they can access them whenever they want.

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Kamloops-South Thompson MLA Todd Stone calls the situation “outrageous” and demands “more than empty words” from Premier David Eby. As for Eby, his reponse is that bringing weapons and illicit drugs into hospitals for consumption is not acceptable.

Meanwhile, in the nation’s capital, the exact same situation is being blamed on the federal Liberals by the Conservatives. Kamloops-Cariboo-Chilcotin MP Frank Caputo was busy in the House of Commons this week pointing the finger at Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“After eight years of the Liberal Prime Minister’s radical safe supply agenda,” he said during Question Period, “we see lives being put at risk. After the NDP-Liberal government decriminalized hard drugs, nurses in British Columbia are now being told to allow patients to use hard drugs and have weapons in their hospital rooms.”

To which the Liberals replied that they, too, are concerned, and then pointed their own finger at Eby and the NDP.

It’s one of those things tailor-made for opposition parties to lay blame on governments but it doesn’t get anything done. Eby could shut up his opponents very quickly by ending the failed decriminalization experiment and cracking down on weapons in hospitals.

Words of concern, whether from governments or opposition, aren’t enough.

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.

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.