File photo (Image credit: CFJC Today).

By Steve Robinson, Former Kamloops Fire Rescue Chief

SOUND OFF

SOUND OFF: Province needs to take responsibility for fallout of drug use

Jul 31, 2024 | 12:30 PM

I READ THE ARTICLE about the high crime rate in Kamloops and then the rebuttal by RCMP Officer in Charge Jeff Pelley.

As stated in the article, the crimes that are rising in Kamloops are break and enters, mischief, theft from vehicles and shoplifting. Most of those crimes are low level crimes associated with drug use, in which fighting is an uphill battle for any police agency in this province.

The province needs to take some or all the responsibility for this as it openly foments drug use. The direction the province has taken on drugs is not the direction most folks want. Drug addiction is a health issue for sure. However, all the associated problems that go with addiction such as the crimes listed above are not health issues. Our government seems content to let the health issues steer the ship while letting cities manage the fallout of addiction without providing additional resources to cities to assist in managing the fallout from their programs.

During my tenure as Fire Chief of the City of Kamloops we used a business intelligence program to monitor city calls for service in polygons around some no barrier shelters. Then we watched calls for service drop in one area as a shelter began relocating and then grow in the area where the shelter was relocating. There is solid data to prove that addiction issues create draws on community resources that in turn need to be funded by the province. Those issues are not health issues.

While I’m at it, why does the province want to encourage drug use by giving free drugs? Shouldn’t they work towards trying to get people off the cycle of addiction? They won’t share any data on how many people have been moved through the system to become clean, because it seems that’s not their goal. There aren’t enough treatment facilities to offer a user a bed if they walk into a shelter and say I want to get clean. Instead the user gets a wait list. Where does that lead? Back to the street.

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No child in grade 3 says they want to be a street addict when they grow up, so why doesn’t the province focus on healing the folks with addiction and mental health issues instead of just giving free drugs and encouraging street life. Addiction destroys lives (thousands in B.C.). Let’s work towards programs that prevent and treat addiction and mental health issues. We know the province has the power. During COVID extended families weren’t allowed to gather indoors and law abiding people were restricted from seeing one another. So health and the province do have the power to do something about a disease that has an ancillary effect on the general population and has killed thousands more than COVID.

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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.