Jason Kenney is a moral absolutist. There are no greys in his world, no extenuating circumstances. Either you live as he feels you should live, or you are a BAD PERSON and due the full, draconian consequences of your actions. 1/15
Addiction is complex. It is not some kid acting out & doing drugs. It is not a moral failing. Most addicts are either suffering & escaping from some very real trauma, or addiction crept up on them in the wake of an accident or illness for which pain meds were prescribed.. 2/15
Addicts are human beings, with lives and family and history. Safe injection sites save lives. There is a ton of documented evidence for this. Safe injection sites also offer opportunities to interact with social services that may help an addict escape the cycle. 3/15
We live in a society where adults cannot be forced to rehab, as Rachel Curran has suggested. The underlying issues must be addressed, or an addict who has been compelled to go cold turkey through a jail sentence, etc, will relapse. 4/15
Safe injection sites help to keep addicts alive, hopefully long enough to decide to seek treatment. Points of contact are essential. No child says "I want to be a drug addict when I grow up." No one sets that as a goal. 5/15
Drug prohibition and the stigma of addiction push addicts to the shadows, where it is hard to make the connections necessary to find a way back. 6/15
Yes, drug addicts sometimes resort to some pretty bad behaviour to feed their addiction. That doesn't make them inherently evil. It means they have lost control of their lives. 7/15
Guilt, feelings of worthlessness, alienation, desperation, all work to keep the addict in a downward spiral. None of these things matter to moral absolutists like Jason Kenney. 8/15
Remember, Kenney was a Minister in the government that sought to shut down safe injection sites. The ensuing court battle resulted in the SCC ruling that shutting SISs arbitrarily was unconstitutional and violated people's rights. 9/15
See, Mr. Kenney, addicts are people too, & they are entitled to security of person, like anyone else. They are due compassion, not hatred. Our system's inability to fix the underlying causes of addiction is to blame, not the addict. Cycles of poverty & abuse are at fault. 10/15
Jason Kenney would happily use "consultation" to prevent or close safe injection sites. Funny how, when it is Indigenous People trying to protect their land and water, "consultation" is a waste of time and money... 11/15
No one wants anyone to find needles in their yard or in parks. No one wants a child or pet to be injured. The solution is not to shut the safe injection sites (which save lives), but to find better ways to manage needle disposal. 12/15
My understanding is that the needles found outdoors are not actually from safe injection sites. People who use the sites are not allowed to take the needles away with them. So, perhaps, the answer is more safe injection sites, so people are not using on the streets. 13/15
The world is not black and white. Human behaviour is a complicated result of personal history and societal norms. We have to move beyond just deciding some behaviour is bad and condemning people for it, to trying to prevent the factors leading to it. 14/15
