Pubdate: Sat, 18 Feb 2017
Source: Edmonton Journal (CN AB)
Copyright: 2017 The Edmonton Journal
Website: http://www.edmontonjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/134
Author: Rod Knecht
Page: A10

SUPPORT SERVICES KEY TO SAFE INJECTION SITES

Drug addicts need our care and compassion - not incarceration - writes
Rod Knecht.

The Edmonton Police Service recently published its organizational
position on supervised injection sites, which calls for supervised
injection sites to be more than designated physical spaces where
addicts can consume illegal drugs.

In addition to the necessary basic human requirements of shelter and
security, the sites also need to provide a complete slate of support
services for drug addicts - from emergency medical care to assistance
with food, medication and mental health issues - to name a few.

Supervised injection sights will immediately become a significant
presence in whichever communities they are situated. It is therefore
very important that we get this right.

Now is the time, before any decisions are made, for the necessary
conversation and debate to occur.

Edmontonians need to be fully informed on all of the issues
surrounding the provision of public facilities for addicts to consume
their drugs.

We need to think about not only what is necessary to reduce or
eliminate harm to the addict, but to care providers, and the broader
community.

An approach that focuses on rehabilitation instead of consumption is
gaining the attention of cities across Canada, and for good reason:
Instead of simply facilitating illicit drug use, supervised injection
sites can, and should be, a gateway to helping addicts, who are often
suffering in isolation with mental and physical illness and, most
often, homelessness.

A broader community wellness centre with comprehensive wraparound
services would help make meaningful progress toward not only managing
addictions, but conquering them.

The reality is that the vast majority of drug addicts are forced to
commit criminal acts to support an increasingly expensive and
dangerous habit - criminal acts that would not otherwise be committed
and victimization that would not otherwise occur, but for their addictions.

The daily economic costs (emergency medical services, police,
insurance) of this cycle of despair - getting high, suffering
withdrawal and victimizing a third party for cash - is significant and
would be better invested in comprehensive treatment.

A facility that focuses too much on enabling the illicit use of drugs
at the expense of treatment falls drastically short of the care that
an addict needs. It also risks jeopardizing community compassion due
to the resulting scourge of discarded needles, increased criminal
activity, social disorder and neighbourhood degradation.

Should a facility be realized, surrounding residents should not have
to worry about the safety of their vehicles, sanctity of their homes
or the quality of their lives. We can do so much better than this.

I will repeat: Edmonton needs a safe and supportive facility for drug
addicts, one that focuses on rehabilitation as opposed to
consumption.

We want to give those with serious addictions a realistic and
supportive opportunity to kick their drug habit and keep the door open
to the better life they and every other Edmontonian deserves, and not
be complicit in prolonging a downward spiral of hopelessness.

No less important, citizens who live in the communities adjacent to
these facilities need to know that rehabilitation is the end goal, not
just the facilitation of drug use.

The Edmonton Police Service has long recognized that the criminal
justice system is not an effective means for addressing drug
addiction. We, the police, should be focused on those that prey on our
most vulnerable. Addicts need our care and compassion - not
incarceration.

Rod Knecht is chief of the Edmonton Police Service.
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MAP posted-by: Matt