Enabling drugs while shunning sugar

City initiatives may seem questionable to some, but they are for our own good

No doubt some Hamiltonians are chuckling to hear city council is considering banning sugary drinks from city buildings to protect people’s health.

With good reason.

The proposed ban by the public health department lands at the same time the city is moving ahead with opening its first safe injection site for drug addicts.

It’s more than a little ironic that the city may be cracking down on sugar while enabling the use of illegal drugs like heroin and cocaine.

But, rest assured, both initiatives are for our own good. As a bureaucrat might say, they’re about improving community health outcomes.

Boiled down to the basics, it’s all about harm reduction, that is, the shaping of policies to minimize the effect of stupid things people do to themselves.

The fact that the potential suppression of soda and fruit juice sales coincides with the impending legalization of marijuana — despite medical concerns for young and chronic tokers — also has its ironies. Mind you, selling marijuana is a federal and provincial affair, or, more accurately, business. Council itself has directly endorsed the idea of supervised drug dens and the board of health will look at the proposed phased-in proscriptions against sugar Monday.

If council does approve banning the sale of sugary drinks and bottled water at places such as city recreation centres by 2021, hopefully the restrictions will be extended to any and all future city-supported safe injections sites as well. After all, it’s bad enough that people are shooting dangerous illegal drugs into their veins; we can’t have them making other terrible choices such as guzzling weight-gaining pop and using ecologically-unfriendly plastic bottles at the same time.

There’s a price tag for promoting both these socially responsible policies, of course.

In the case of the safe injection site, the good old province is providing $116,000 to support a temporary location at the Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre on Rebecca Street. Staffing and support will be provided by public health and various community groups. Drug users — drug abusers is the better description — will bring their illicit substances to the downtown haunt where they can shoot up and settle down in the presence of trained staff members equipped with anti-overdose skills and drugs.

In the case of purging city-owned rec centres of bottled water and sugar-laced refreshments, public health officials estimate it could mean an annual loss of approximately $64,000 to the city. They are hopeful, however, that the lost revenue can be made up through selling new products. Who knows, maybe some enterprising souls will see an opportunity here to introduce broccoli juice or cauliflower water to the concession stands and vending machines. If the ban is approved by council, sugar addicts will still be able to bring their own syrupy libations with them into city buildings, though it’s doubtful safe consumption rooms will be set aside for their use. The sharp end of supervised injection sites is saving lives. Experts say they reduce overdoses and the spread of diseases. Hamilton had 75 opioid-related fatalities over a 10-month period last year. Though the idea of publicly sanctioned and funded injection sites may be offensive to some, helping people on the needle stay alive is the triumph of compassion over moral revulsion.

On the other hand, the proposed prohibition on candied drinks is mainly a piece of symbolism tied to public health’s three-year strategy of using city buildings as a working lab for promoting healthier foods and beverages. The fact is, Hamiltonians, among other health failings, are more overweight and obese and have a higher prevalence of high blood pressure and diabetes relative to the rest of Ontario. So, even if you object to city officials trying to social engineer your consumer habits, perhaps you can take solace that at least someone is keeping an eye on the big picture.