Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
No, not you. There have been a few posts in this thread that come across that way, though. I get that some of the downsides of safe injection sites certainly have an impact on the surrounding community, but the alternative has clearly proven to be worse.
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Absolutely. The comment about the area around Shumir becoming a "mini East Hastings" thanks to the NDP almost made me laugh out loud at my desk.
People don't tend to care about the problem, they just don't want to see it. Some of those people would probably rather have drug addicts die or get sick from dirty needles than having drug addicts drawn to their neighbourhood for any reason, even if it's an overall improvement in safety. Even if they wouldn't publically admit it, it's out of sight, out of mind.
My feeling is that safe injection sites are a net positive no matter how you break it down. It's valid if you don't like the effects on your community, but if it wasn't yours, it'd be someone else's. The answer isn't to close them up, but to push for a better solution so the need for them isn't there. It's not like the drug addicts just come from nowhere when a safe injection site opens up.