The first thing he thinks about each morning is how to steal enough stuff to feed the addiction

The following commentary was written late last week by Tim Thielmann, Conservative Party of BC candidate for Victoria-Beacon Hill. With his permission, it is shared here:


I just sat down with Constable Mark Jenkins, a community liaison officer with the downtown street community and police. He says we're approaching the point of no return in the addiction crisis. And the provincial government is making it worse.

He told me a story I'll never forget. One man living on the street told Mark he'd keep stealing again and again. "Nothing personal", he said.

Why?

Because he has a $40-a-day habit and his girlfriend's is $160-a-day. So, the first thing he thinks about each morning is how to steal enough stuff to feed the addiction.

And how much is that?

The man gets 10 cents on the dollar on the black market for the stuff he steals. So that's $2000-per-day he needs to shoplift to feed the beast. And the province wants you to think "stigmatization" is the problem; that more drugs are the answer. As if it's not the drugs themselves that are a robbing men like this of his freedom and dignity.

And the man says recovery terrifies him. Like having your skin on fire.

But let's say he works up his courage and wants to give it a shot? It takes 3-6 months to get into rehab. He might not last that long. Let's say he makes it into rehab and gets clean.

Where can he go when the program is over? Back to the streets! Or into the "wet" housing where he'll be surrounded by the drugs and drug-based community he's worked so hard to escape.

In fact, I'm told that BC Housing doesn't have a single dry unit in the city. The province? That's an unbelievable scandal in itself (In New York, EVERY shelter is now dry and people using them need to have a plan to move towards recovery.) Nor are there any real supports for those exiting treatment. No skills training. Recovery ("therapeutic") communities. No counseling.

Just the street, and its drugs.

Is it any wonder overdose deaths have doubled in 7 years under the NDP? They don't believe in recovery. Or they do but can't make it work. A distinction, which frankly, doesn't matter if you're the one trying to get free.

I don't have all the answers. But I'm listening. Especially to the people who are actually dealing with the reality of the tragedy on our streets. More to come, including what we can learn from Amy Allard, who runs Sea Spring Mental Wellness Coalition and has gotten 130 people off Victoria's streets and into market-housing in the last 3 years alone. A true inspiration.