Quote:
Originally Posted by Keith P.
No, I am realistic and not looking at that stretch through rose-colored glasses. It would be nice if it was as you describe, but with a safe injection site,
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This seems like a situation that is preferable and less sketchy for everyone than the alternative, which would be people shooting up in public (not to mention potentially ODing or contracting serious and expensive-to-treat blood-borne illnesses from dirty needles). I know that some people consider "how about if there were no drug users to begin with?" as a third and preferred alternative but in practice this is not a realistic or available option at all. Aside from eliminating drug addiction completely (which I agree would be a very good thing in theory), I'm curious as to what you think would be an improvement on the status quo. [edit: I'm not rolling my eyes here... I'm genuinely curious]
to be fair, it is in practice very similar to the legal weed shop in the South End, except that the one on Gottingen is genuinely geared towards cannabis as a health/medical product (I don't think it's a facade that they're putting up in order to justify selling weed illegally - the owners and staff do genuinely believe in its health benefits). The NSLC is purely "recreational". In practice that just means that their product is not necessarily geared towards having any health benefits or even not-having adverse effects, the way it tends to be at most genuinely medical-focused dispensaries.
There are plenty of dispensaries in NS with less noble intentions than Pharm Assists. It's much more nuanced than "it's a non-NSLC dispensary, therefore it's bad" IMO. For the record I would agree that there were (and still are) some
sketchy dispensaries, and while some would argue that an illegal dispensary is an illegal dispensary is an illegal dispensary, some were providing to patients with a genuine sense of moral duty, some were selling to customers indifferently but in good faith, and some were quite... bad. Some collected GST and issued T4s. Some kept illegal firearms and cocaine on site (these ones probably did not issue T4s, but I am speculating). There was (/is?) a huge range in "efforts to do the right thing" within that movement, and some of them were truly deplorable IMO. Pharm Assists was always one of the most earnest and well-intended ones, it seems.
I think it all boils down to fundamental differences in values, tastes, and opinions. Many people are bothered by things that I don't even give a second thought to, and the things that I and many others find appealing about this area may be uninteresting or even unappealing to a lot of other people
Sometimes (and I'm thinking of the area you mentioned in particular) I think this is deliberate on the part of business owners, they are trying to appeal to the counterculture so why try to look "conventionally good"? - not necessarily an approach I would take but I get it. There are certain things that you need to value (and I don't necessarily mean "Good Liberal Things" like diversity or social equity, although those wouldn't hurt in this particular case) in order to really enjoy a place like this. I prefer the area in something resembling its current state as opposed to a hypothetical fully-gentrified Spring Garden North. I don't think someone should be expected to like a place just because it is beloved by other people with completely different tastes - to each their own.