BarrieToday welcomes letters to the editor at [email protected]. Please include your daytime phone number and address (for verification of authorship, not publication).
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I grew up in Barrie, know the city very well, and now live in downtown Toronto.
We regularly visit Barrie’s downtown as tourists (after a mountain-bike ride or a ski), frequenting numerous food service establishments and other retailers.
I am very supportive of supervised consumption sites (SCSs) for a these reasons:
- We live near, and operate a business in, a Toronto neighbourhood with SCSs. These sites are safe, quiet and humane. They are a critical part of our urban infrastructure, and have resulted in fewer discarded needles, less public drug use and a healthier community.
- Through our street-front business, we met numerous people struggling with addiction. In every case where humane intervention and support was provided (such as an SCS), there was an improvement in the situation.
- I personally struggled with addiction to an opioid after an accident, and know the difficulties that addicts can have without proper support. Nobody is an addict by choice; each addict is a neighbour and citizen. It is important for a mature community to support those who are affected.
We love the Barrie and area, and its improving downtown. Not only can SCSs be seamlessly integrated, they can improve the landscape for citizens and tourists alike.
Perry Caicco
Toronto
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