Opinion: While we get caught up in debating decriminalization and safe supply, people are dying and fighting mental illness. We need to know how many detox, treatment and recovery facilities are required — and where
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More than half of British Columbians fear becoming a victim of crime in their own communities.
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Let that sink in for a moment. How can that be acceptable? Are B.C. citizens meant to simply hang their heads and wring their hands before carrying on their daily lives? We would hope not.
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A recent Research Co. province-wide public opinion survey found that more than half of British Columbians think crime has increased over the past four years — 51 per cent personally fear falling victim to crime.
The Business Improvement Association of B.C., a Save Our Streets coalition member that represents tens of thousands of businesses throughout the province, has identified street disorder and crime and staff/customer safety as a key issue facing main streets and downtowns in B.C.
Consuming news today means being inundated with reports of gang gunplay, people suffering from addiction and mental illnesses consuming drugs in public, drugs being consumed in our hospitals to the detriment of patients and medical staff, the number of deaths from overdoses ever growing, and repeat violent offenders rushing through the revolving door that is our judicial system.
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While we get caught up in debating decriminalization and safe supply, those committing crimes to feed their addictions are dying and often fighting mental illness. We must focus on programs that provide the best opportunity to help them put their addictions and life of crime behind them and give them the very best chance of returning to their families and communities as healthy, productive members of society. A comprehensive continuum of care is urgently needed on a regional basis to provide immediate detox and health evaluation, followed by treatment and recovery.
These options are not available in many areas of B.C. and this lack of resources means wait lists and travel — so many coming out of detox never make it to treatment and recovery before relapsing. Drugs have deprived many of the ability to make positive change on their own and these people need our help and involuntary care is the only choice of a caring society. Survivors of detox and treatment cannot simply be dumped back into housing surrounded by those still suffering from addictions and the drug pushers who prey upon them. Housing options that remove them from those elements and longer-term counselling are needed to encourage and support them.
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Finally, our governments need to stop finger-pointing at each other and work together to treat this as the societal crisis it is. There are well-meaning people at every level of government and in every political party. It is time for them to show us the character required to truly operate in the public interest.
We advocate establishing a full continuum of care for those suffering from addiction and mental illnesses, including real-time monitoring of how many people are suffering from both addiction and mental illnesses in B.C. and where they are located. How many detox, treatment and recovery facilities are required to serve that identified need, and where. Transparency is required to allow the public to see how we are doing in meeting those needs. Other measures include recognizing which legislation and policies are required to speed up the judicial system, halt the revolving door for repeat violent offenders and eliminate the hurdles faced by police in gathering intelligence, investigating crimes and laying charges.
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Finally, we need to establish key performance measures that can be publicly reported quarterly on a provincial basis to determine whether programs are succeeding. We need to see the trends on a variety of crime categories and be able to assess how we are progressing on developing that full continuum of care. We don’t have them today — and, surely, we don’t want to be measured by the one stat that is reported in real time: the number of people losing their lives to illicit drugs.
What gets measured, gets managed. Let’s reverse the trends. Let’s remove the fear.
Jess Ketchum is co-founder of the Save Our Streets coalition.
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