this post was submitted on 04 Jan 2024
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Making it illegal to consume in any place will push them to the fringes. I can't tell you how they see a playground different than a school ground - and I 100% do not want stray needles and syring out people in playgrounds but that is a separate issue- but I do know that giving a person fewer places to feel safe isn't going to benefit them or encourage them to seek help. Prohibition laws only hurt society and those who are the most vulnerable in it.
If we give people a safe space, a safe supply, and unlimited mental health resources then they won't use in playgrounds or bus stops anymore- problem solved with zero imprisonment and zero jail deaths.
This seems to be an argument to forcibly allow drug consumption absolutely anywhere. Schools, pools, restaurants, in the middle of the mall, etc.
This doesn't seem like a reasonable argument to me, there are and there should be limits to where open drug consumption should be considered welcome. The question is why do we now decide to explicitly include children playgrounds in the list of those places, it's entirely illogical.
Then you are twisting it to be something it's not. I don't want people shooting up in playgrounds or bus stops either, but creating laws to make these people into criminals is not how you get there. This is why I support supervised consumption which should come first, then make laws outlawing use in these other areas. They need a place to go first- a place that isn't jail or a coffin.
But I don't think we are discussing criminalizing drug use at all. Criminal records for drug use is not part of this act amendment, like not at all.
The NDP act amendment, which got suspended, is a project to restrict the drug use in some places, by directing police to approach the drug users, ask them to move elsewhere, and make sure they do. That's it, that's all there is, there's no jail and no criminal record involved.
As for the argument that barring playgrounds the only place left to do drugs is jail, that's just not serious, they occupy a very small part of the public space.