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Safe consumption sites not the source of gun violence
I don’t think anyone suggested that it was the source of gun violence.
But they are a source of pretty much all other crimes, needle litter, and a lowering of perceived neighbourhood safety. Alberta put out a study on this, and I’m sure other Provinces have similar data to share.
On the Friday afternoon of July 7, a gunfight took place at the intersection of Queen and Carlaw in Leslieville. Tragically, 44-year-old Karolina Huebner-Makurat was fatally struck by a stray bullet while waiting at the bus stop on Queen Street. The community grieved; however, the conversation quickly moved to a vilification of the consumption and treatment service that is located in South Riverdale Community Health Centre driven in large part due to an article published by the conservative publication the Toronto Sun shortly after the tragedy.
The Toronto Sun did. The Spring article is using a specific factual event to springboard a larger discussion.
Also I’d suggest that the source of those crimes is the opioid crisis, not the various harm reduction strategies employed to fight it.
The Sun is a POS media outlet, so it doesn’t surprise me.
I’m not sure if the opioid crisis turns people in litter bugs, or thieves, or prostitutes, but drug addiction causes all kinds of destructive behaviours. Having areas where addicts can interact with each other just sets off a series of bad choices, often leading to crime.
Our municipality has a crime map, and the areas where we have needle drop-off boxes, addiction support, and shelters tend to be lit up with sexual assault, violent crime, robberies, b&e, etc.
Granted, these areas now also have LCBO/Beer Store/Cannabis shops at every corner, so it’s all around bad for the community.
I think it also has to do with the overall bad mental health that a lot of people have. We don’t really have a lot of truly helpful solutions for most people.
Yeah, we have some facilities, but they can be inaccessible. If you’re in denial over struggling, you might think that the amount you drink is ok, even if that amount might not actually be ok. Someone might see mental health or addiction stereotypes and think to themselves “I’m not as bad as that guy”, and then that person believes that they are ok when they really aren’t ok.
If someone seriously doesn’t want to stick around, they’re probably not going to care about littering. If someone hates everyone, they’re probably more likely to feel ok stealing. If someone’s constantly in mental agony, they might look for anything to escape it. If you think dinner is completely ruined, you probably won’t fret about what drink you want to pair with it.
None of this makes the bad stuff ok, but I seriously think that bettering our country’s mental health services would go a very long way in culling addiction. What we’re doing now certainly isn’t working.
Seems like what people really want is to take people who have already been seriously traumatized, and traumatize them some more. For their own good, of course.
