DON'T EXPORT SOCIAL ILLS

When it comes to social ills like drugs and crime, individuals and
communities can either be part of the problem or part of the solution.

We, as a community, have decided to be part of the problem. We refer
to the Turning Point Society's decision to withdraw its application
to build a 32-bed recovery house on Ash Street.

On one hand, we demand that governments "do something" about drugs
and crime, but when a plan to use land owned by B.C. Housing to help
addicts recover was proposed, we rejected it.

"Unfortunately, your community has fought aggressively against a
project that would have helped to address that (problem) in the
community," Housing Minister Rich Coleman told the News.

Opponents said it was the scale of the 32-bed facility they opposed,
not the idea of residential treatment per se. Economies of scale
meant the government and Turning Point would have been able to get
more bang for its buck by building one 32-bed facility than three
10-bed group homes. So, it is just going to cost more to provide the
same level of service.

Turning Point will now consider a smaller, 10-bed recovery house for
women, possibly on the same site. We suspect we haven't heard the
last of the neighbourhood group that opposed the proposal -- the
"Caring Citizens of Richmond Society" -- who recently received a
certificate of incorporation.

The group vows in a press release to "continue their vigilance
against anything that may compromise the city's recognition as one of
the world's most liveable communities."

Presumably a "liveable community" is one that exports its social
problems to other communities. Here's something Turning Point's
critics just don't seem to get: Opposing supportive recovery won't
keep addicts out of our neighbourhoods. It just means they will go
untreated and unsupervised.