Quote:
Originally Posted by Vin
There is one big reason why all the free handouts are still going despite them not working: they support a whole slew of industry benefiting from the government funding, be they SRO housing, injection site workers, healthcare system, security, pharmaceutical and medical equipment companies, needle manufacturers, etc. etc., these organizations employ a large number of people sucking up tax payers' money. Certainly not a good excuse in any way you see it, as the primary objective of solving the issues is actually put on the sideline. I think people in these sectors of the industry actually are the ones supporting the system, and decry an end to it, and calling others who oppose the system as "unsympathetic" or even "heartless".
Exactly. You do get a lot of the free needles ending up in the back lanes and parks, potentially harming people. Should sue those giving out these harmful paraphernalia. Also more are dying on the streets: be they from overdoses or simply wasting their bodies away.
|
Here are a couple of other recent articles on the DTES that offer some different opinions and explanations of the problem. CBC ran a lot of interviews last week; here's
the summary piece, "But a big reason why things seem much worse comes down to geography and density. "There's been a lot of gentrification in that area," said Dr. Mark Tyndall, a leader with the province's Opioid Overdose Response team. "It's really changing, it's pushing people more out on the streets ... and what we consider the DTES has dramatically shrunk," said Tyndall, who has spent 20 years working in the area.
Star Vancouver also wrote
a long article, and
another on the evictions on Oppenheimer Park.
One important thing to note from your comment - while needles lying around are not to be condoned, "The risk to the public is extremely low, no one has ever acquired HIV or any other pathogen from a needle stick injury from a discarded needle.” [
Vancouver Coastal Health]
Threaded Mode