Dear editor,
I am writing to express my concern about the expanding homeless problem in the Comox Valley and how it is being handled.
As a recovering alcoholic/addict, myself I believe the current approach is failing both the homeless themselves and the people whose areas they are invading and destroying.
It is clear some of these folks suffer from mental health issues, while others are active addicts who can be dangerous and threatening. There are also those who are simply poor souls that have fallen on hard times.
In order to address these different issues we need a different approach. Weeding out the active addicts who create most of the problems, may be difficult but doable. Handing them so-called safe drugs simply enables them to continue in their present situation. Many of them sell the free drugs to others to obtain the drug of their choice. We need recovery and treatment centres to help get them out of the continued cycle of addiction.
The mentally ill need to be brought into a safe environment where they can be treated and helped into a better living situation. Most of all the homeless need a hand up not a hand out.
Maybe it鈥檚 time to start listening to folks who have been there and work with them to better the present scene the Valley is now faced with. It鈥檚 called tough love. Time for the holier-than-thou do-gooders to get a grasp on reality.
Lastly, in an effort to find a warming center for the winter, the tourist centre has been proposed. Totally unrealistic and not well thought out.
Irene Daigle,
Cumberland
