Olivia Cao/Edge columnist
Drugs are a chronic problem in Vancouver, and the government of Canada has done a lot to address it. According to the article “What happened when Vancouver opened a supervised injection site” written by Lee Lax, by order of Health Canada, Vancouver became home to North America’s first legally supervised drug injection site in 2003 in a move to reduce deaths.
However, the increased violent crime rate caused by drug injection sites in Vancouver has deeply affected the lives of residents, particularly those who live near injection sites.
Based on statistics, violent crime was up 1.5% in the first quarter of 2022 over the same period of 2021 in Vancouver. Since crime and public safety are shaping up to be an election issue in the coming October municipal vote, the long-debated issue of whether drug users should be given injectable drugs is once again being discussed, is giving free drug injections to drug users really a best solution?
More people died of illicit drug overdose in British Columbia in February 2022 than ever before for that month, according to the provincial coroners service, there were 174 deaths due to illicit drug toxicity in that month. Among them, Vancouver is one of the cities with the highest number of fatalities.
Samantha Li, grade 11, said, “I think we should try to get addicts off drugs, rather than just providing them with rations of drugs, which can be extremely harmful to one’s health. It’s not smart to keep drug users addicted for a long time.”
In some ways, giving free drugs to addicts will discourage them from quitting drugs, and even give them a false information leads to believe that if they don’t get clean, it won’t have a great impact. In addition, long-term drug use will give the addict a growing desire for drugs and will likely result in death by illegal overdose.
According to a news written by Glen Korstrom, Vancity Sports is permanently shutting its 32-year-old store at 646 Seymour Street by the end of May due to many drug users and homeless people congregate in downtown Vancouver.
Li commented, “we have to admit that we should give basic respect to drug users, but the staying of drug users near the injection sites has caused a very negative impact on local security and hidden treats to public safety.”
Just as Li said, public safety issues near injection sites are very problematic because of the drug users’ gather. Moreover, providing drugs to addicts is not the best solution, and it has not reduced the number of deaths from drug overdoses. Giving free drugs to addicts can even spread the false information to society that using drugs has no effects. Instead of providing drugs directly, it could be a good idea to help addicts quitting from drugs and increase awareness of the dangers of drugs. It is worth considering how to better solve the drug problem and the security threats caused by drug users in Vancouver.
Sources:
“What happened when Vancouver opened a supervised injection site”
“Few members of the public able to speak at Vancouver council meeting on crime, public safety”
“B.C. illicit drug deaths reach an ‘unprecedented and terrifying rate’: chief coroner”
“Unviable business climate prompts Vancity Sports to leave Vancouver”
“Overdose crisis a key election issue in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside”