Nanaimo’s mayor says the city is taking measures to ensure public safety is maintained after residents of Nob Hill complained of an increase in social disorder relating to the decriminalization of possession of small amounts of illicit drugs.
Mayor Leonard Krog says the city is working to keep up with the demand for the increase in public safety by hiring more police officers, and other officials, but says solving the problem falls primarily on the province.
“The city is halfway through hiring 15 more police officers over the course of five years,” Krog says. “We are increasing our bike patrol who police downtown, and we have instituted a dozen community safety officers to help.
“The city is doing what it can, however; as everyone knows the root of this disorder is based in mental health, addictions, brain injury, trauma, and homelessness, and the solutions for it have to come from the senior government at the provincial level.”
Krog says he knows there is a lot of work to do to correct the issue residents of Nanaimo are facing, but it will take a while to fix the failures of the past.
“It took us almost 40 years of failed social health policy to get here, and it will take us a while to get out of it,” he says.
Krog says there are a few good arguments that support the need for decriminalization of drugs, but according to what he is hearing the consensus is most people do not support the government’s decision.
“People themselves who have used illegal drugs in the past, when they are parenting children, they don’t want to see open use and that is extremely disturbing,” Krog says. “When you see someone using drugs on a public sidewalk, or near a school, it is not going to win public support.
“There are hundreds of people who are in need, but I don’t think it is getting public support because of this, and I’m not convinced it is doing anything to help.”
Krog says the city is doing what it can to help people who are struggling get the help needed by providing housing to help those in need get off the street but feels it might not be enough.
“We have a number of housing units being constructed, and completed, but unless it is supportive housing for a fair portion of the population it is not going to fix it,” Krog says.
Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said in an email the government decriminalized was done to reduce the number of fatalities around toxic drugs and if it is criminalized this would only drive people back into hiding resulting in more deaths.
Farnworth says every community is currently experiencing impacts of toxic drugs differently and there is no evidence to support the implementation of decriminalization has resulted in an increase in open use of illegal drugs or an increase in crime.
Health Canada granted the exemption from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to BC on January 23 with safe supply starting in March.
So far 1018 deaths have been recorded from toxic drugs in BC.
