In response to the letter by Sharon Shelton [“Blind solutions,” July 31], I want to make two points.
I agree that too many social services organizations can have ripple effects in town. I experienced this in Nanaimo when my husband and I owned a small business. The Salvation Army kitchen was half a block away and 50 or more street people would line up for a $2 meal every day. Our business experienced shoplifting, window break-ins and people sleeping in our doorways. There was no proof that a link was there but we felt there was a connection.
But I disagree with Shelton on overdose prevention sites (OPS). My husband and I lost our son to poisoned drugs in Nanaimo when he was 24 years old. He came home from work and died in his bedroom alone. My husband found him in the morning.
Our son was working, attending university part-time and playing drums with a local band. He could also play the piano by ear and once made a composition called “Unicorn in the Mist.” If an OPS had existed in 2017, maybe Anton would be alive today.
Parents need a chance to help their children, and since most parents don’t know much about drugs, the OPS is a needed professional service. We need to keep people alive so they can access other services like treatment, and stop needless deaths and harm to families.
Maureen Christensen,
Wildwood
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