Cambridge can solve its problems

Just days after defusing the sports multiplex bomb, Cambridge is tackling another explosive subject — opening a safe injection site for drug addicts.

While the link between a massive public recreation project and a small facility to save the lives of opioid users may seem tenuous, the issues have much in common.

Both are difficult, local controversies that for good reason have upset and divided the community.

But both problems are solvable, and if everyone learns the lessons taught by the multiplex debate, the best decision on the safe injection site should be easier to reach.

At least 27 people have died of opioid overdoses in Cambridge this year.

That’s a staggering, intolerable loss of life and more must be done to end this substance-abuse epidemic.

Yet the question is not simply what should be done, but how the decision should be made and who makes it. That’s where the multiplex issue offers guidance. Last week, city politicians voted to place the new recreation centre’s ice rinks and gyms at Cambridge Centre Mall on Hespeler Road.

So far, Cambridge residents appear happy about the location in a way that once seemed impossible.

A vote by city council in 2015 to build the multiplex on land leased from Conestoga College south of Highway 401 infuriated citizens who argued the location was too remote.

The politicians could have bulldozed over the opposition, arguing that the college site was the most economic and expeditious option.

But not only did city council push the hold button on the multiplex, it actively consulted with the public. Citizens had their say at lively public meetings. Many residents were also welcomed to a committee that considered other options. The pros and cons of each site were exhaustively examined. And while a deal that most of Cambridge could support seemed elusive, the shuttering of the Sears store at the mall left city hall with a winning solution. So how does this apply to an injection site? To begin, the abuse of opioids is a major problem in Cambridge and one that demands a strong public response.

Yes, laws are being broken. And yes, many residents feel threatened when they see used syringes and people either high or passed out from drugs in public places.

But this is a public health crisis and human lives are at stake. Inaction is no option.

There will be a timely public meeting at 7 p.m. tonight at the Dunfield Theatre to discuss a safe injection site in Cambridge.

Concerned citizens should attend and make their feelings known. Police, public health and city officials there should listen — but they should also be heard.

Residents have a right to feel secure in their city. No one wants to see drug abuse localized in a neighbourhood that people start avoiding.

But what if issues such as location, proper supervision and public safety can be dealt with? The only way Cambridge can discover the answer is to talk. Its recent record for doing this is excellent.