ROTHENBURGER – We don’t have a moral obligation to give drug users free rein
(Image: CFJC Today)
CHALLENGES TO NEW restrictions on public consumption of illicit drugs show just how far things have gotten out of whack in our society. Increasingly, it seems, those who indulge in antisocial behaviour receive favoured status.
Bill 34, which came into effect as the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances Act last week, is the Eby government’s answer to complaints from multiple municipal councils about the unintended consequences of decriminalizing possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.
In effect, it’s an effort by the government to fix a problem it created. The three-year decriminalization pilot went into effect early in the year and is supposed to destigmatize hard drug use and encourage addicts to get help.
There are no statistics on how many people have been referred to services and how many have accepted, so it’s hard to imagine how the effectiveness of decriminalization is supposed to be measured.
Anyway, local councils became worried about users of illicit drugs ingesting said drugs in public places such as parks, beaches, playgrounds and sports fields. Kamloops City council jumped on the bandwagon to broaden restrictions on where decriminalized illicit drugs can be consumed.
Legal challenges were fully expected and two have sprung up. One is from the Pivot Legal Society at the Coast, which I wrote about last spring when it threatened to sue Campbell River if the City put a drugs-in-parks bylaw into effect.
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.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
Basically we have a small, unwell segment of society dictating the safety and well-being of the rest of society. Not to mention that this small segment, which contributes little, uses a disproportionate amount of social, medical and emergency services. A completely unsustainable social model.
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In reality help is not really available especially in instances where the substance abuse is in its infancy. Because it may be too late for the many already caught in the downward spiral but avoiding newbies to join the ranks of the downtrodden should be prioritized.
Where the “moral obligation (s)” lays should be openly debated but open debate ain’t part of the “woke-ism” paradigm.
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It seems more than a little ironic that Premier Eby’s previous career was in challenging laws while employed with with Pivot Legal Society, and his activities there laid the foundation for where we are with many of these societal issues today.
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Thank you for covering the Nurse’ lawsuit, Mel. Incredibly, a group of professional nurses count themselves as drug addicts as well (comforting thought). While I do think there is some logic in the idea of handing out opioids to anyone attending a City Hall meeting, most other scenarios don’t pass the mustard.
What an egregious violation of their freedoms, hey? The next thing will be to end drug testing for drivers, pilots, workers and whomever else might be operating that big, fast heavy bus driving toward you.
In the world of progressive activists, the “right” to maintain your reprehensible drug addiction is sacrosanct.
Businesses have formed associations to speak out because crime, shoplifting, assaults against customers, employees and security guards is at a fever pitch.
The powers that be have lost their damn minds.
If only there was some way for me to escape from this upside down world. Some way for me to forget my problem. Some way for me to drown my sorrows…
In the Kamloops safe supply clinic, I’m Denny Law. (Edited)
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To be clear, “some” members of the Harm Reduction Nurses Association acknowledge they use drugs.
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