This is growing up

Penticton is growing up so fast. It seems like only yesterday we were hearing about the opioid epidemic, and now here we are with our very own strategy scheduled to be presented to council today to help deal with some of the fallout from the increased use of injection drugs.

Obtaining good data about the number of people in Penticton who inject drugs is virtually impossible. Anecdotally, however, one need look no further than the Alarm Box that runs most days in The Herald.

It lists the nature of every call for fire departments in the region. For the past few months, there seems to have been at least one needle pickup per day (today being the exception, of course). But such calls were a rarity several years ago.

Now, if drug users just had the common courtesy to dispose of their needles safely, there would be no need for the new strategy. But that’s not reality.

The reality is, ugly as it may be, some drug users have zero consideration for others and simply drop their used needles wherever.

The hope is that if they just have to walk a few extra steps to safely dispose of their rigs that they will actually do so. Let’s hope it works.

No, the new needle boxes won’t make attractive additions to the landscape – just the opposite, in fact, and hopefully they don’t scare people away – but if the boxes stop one person from being pricked by a dirty needle, they’ll be worth it.

The sharps strategy is just another fact of life, like doing laundry, paying taxes and working for a living, we must deal with as we grow up.

Welcome to adulthood, Penticton.