Tackling the drug problem in Kelowna

[Jimbo Jones]

Are there any candidates willing to address the rampant drug activity on our downtown streets? Yesterday I witnessed two obvious drug transactions while walking my son to his daycare. I have seen numerous fights, abusive and offensive language, drug use, drug deals, and discarded drug paraphenalia within blocks of his daycare. The current mayor and council seem to take the approach that if we don't see it, then it isn't there. Who is running for mayor or council that recognizes that this is a serious problem and needs to be addressed? I have only found one council candidate, and no mayoral candidates even mention this issue in their campaign websites.

I understand that addressing this problem is not simple and involves more than council, but could tere be a task force of RCMP, addiction specialists, mental health specialists, city-paid security guards, etc. who can do more to get this under control?
I realize that drugs and their associated crimes are part of society, and that they will never be eliminated entirely, but there are other cities in Canada where drug use on the streets is not as prevelant, and I think Kelowna could be better in this area.

[Relentless]

You bet, the RCMP could do a better job dealing with the druggies and dealers in this City, but where are all the cops anyways?
In our neighborhood, we have been discussing the lack of police sightings over the last few months.

It appears that most of our cops are still investigating the shooting at the Grand, you know, the one where gangsters were shooting, showing no compassion towards regular citizens.

Also, if we had an accountable Police force, there would be a chance to accomplish something.

Yes, Kelowna has serious druggie/drug dealer/gangster problems that arent going away.

Ottawa has a serious problem as well, Tough laws for criminals still haven't been written to deter this stuff from taking place.

Harper should just allow all registered hunters to use gangsters as target practice and be done.

One of the candidates running for Mayor(Cal Condy) has some idea's, but you really need to address the head Ka-Hoo-na in Ottawa to really see some changes, because it's a Federal issue and the Federal cops are dealing with it.

Outlaw bikers and gangsters numbers are growing with no deterrant!

Outdated existing laws need to be updated to more severe penalties then our neighbours to the south have.

Personally, what would you like to see implimented to solve the drug problems????????

[Jimbo Jones]

I understand that the drug problem is a huge social issue and that tackling it a national level involves more than just extra policing and harsher penalties, I'm not sure I am qualified to tackle it myself, and clearly people much smarter than I have not been able to tackle this issue. I'm sure many a university masters thesis have been written on the topics of addiction, crime, and punishment. I wish I did have the answers.

My issue that I think can be dealt with in this election is why is the problem in Kelowna particularly bad?

Why did I step on a crack pipe 2 blocks from where my 2 year old goes to daycare?

Why do I see a few security guards paid for by property owners chase the crackheads away from their building, but not call police?

Why is it that when I call police and report drug dealing in broad daylight I see the same guy on the same corner the very next day?

I just don't see this issue being addressed as much as issues like whether or not people are allowed to have chickens in their backyard, and I'm sure what the reason is. Is it because we have given up and accepted that we are going to be known as the city with all the the crackheads smoking and selling crack rocks in broad daylight?

[Fancy]

Outdated existing laws need to be updated to more severe penalties then our neighbours to the south have

What laws are you referring to?

[grammafreddy]

I just don't see this issue being addressed as much as issues like whether or not people are allowed to have chickens in their backyard, and I'm sure what the reason is. Is it because we have given up and accepted that we are going to be known as the city with all the the crackheads smoking and selling crack rocks in broad daylight?

If we are, we'll be joined by every other city and town in this province and probably in all of Canada. It isn't just in Kelowna, you know. (and you do know that) This city has spend gazillions on time and effort dealing with the drug issue. If you can wiggle your nose and make them go *poof*, you'll make a fortune with that.

Why am I beginning to smell a rat in the henhouse? Why would you even remotely mention chickens when your topic is drugs?

If you are a candidate hiding in the woodworks, then that's just sleazy.

Urban hens and drugs are not related to each other - and they are not the only election issues, either. A good, caring, reputable politician will know that people of every stripe have issues that are important to them. They don't sweep anyone's concerns under the rug as being unimportant or not important enough to deal with. To that voter, it's important. It may not be their highest priority but it still has importance to their life.

I made it an election issue this year because for three years the people who want to have Backyard Chickens have been put off. I think that is more than long enough. I am not supporting anyone in this election who has said they do not support Urban Hens. And it is not just council who has been party to this stalling - staff has been dragging it out and doing the stalling, too.

So, it is not about drugs OR chickens, it is about drugs AND chickens AND anything else that citizens deem to be important.

[Jimbo Jones]

Sorry, I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers (pun intended). I am not a candidate for city council, nor do I represent any, so you can put your conspiracy theory back to bed. The reference to chickens was not to say that I don't think that chickens is not an election issue, I respect your passion for this issue, and the amount of time that has been devoted to it is definately a reflection of your dedication to this cause. I personally, and others that I know, do not think that chickens are 100 times more important than crackheads, and that is the amount of coverage this issue gets. If candidates spent even half as much time planning an approach to reduce the number of crackheads as they did on the chicken issue, I would be happy.

I didn't mean to make this about a bigger problem of drugs througout BC or Canada or the planet Earth, I wanted a focused discussion on the specific drug problems in this city, which are among the worst of any city in the world. I have lived in Toronto, San Francisco, Calgary, Paris, Vancouver, Brisbane; and visited many oter cities throughout the world, and can say that Kelowna has a major problem with people using and selling hard drugs in broad daylight.

[Relentless]

Here are some more problems linked to the serious drug problem.

-Cops are in short supply
-Courts are full
-Jails are full
-Kelowna has good lawyers for criminals
-Laws are written to protect criminals
-penalties for criminals are not harsh enough
-repeat offenders have nothing to deter them from offending
-not enough community pressure on the City and Police to do something different
-people feel sorry for drug users

Other countries do not even entertain the idea of allowing this type of activity to take place.
Drug use and dealing should not be permitted, we do not need this in our society.
We don't need to be spending any money, effort or time on these types!
Drugs do nothing more then create massive trouble in a country.
New laws should be in place to totally banish drugs from our Country once and for all.
I, personally think that all those involved in hard drugs and dealing, including all gangs should be eliminated.

Why are we wasting time, effort and billions of dollars on this?
Bring back the death sentence and get rid of this crap once and for all!

Life is complicated enough, drugs only destroy people, culture and countries.

Kelowna is a good place for gangsters and drug users, the lack of a complete police force makes it comfortable.
And, even if we did have a complete police force, I don't think gangsters and drug users lives are worth anything to society, let alone have us taxpayers paying to babysit them forever!

[ScottRoss]

Jimbo Jones, I believe we need a comprehensive crime prevention strategy in Kelowna. More police officers is a part of it, but we do need to provide better accessibility to treatment among other key policies. Right now we have too many who need help and too few treatment providers, this will require provincial and federal support, but we must do our part as well.

Vancouver has taken initiative and has embraced a Four Pillars Drug Strategy. I believe a similar approach should be adopted in Kelowna along with measurements of performance, not for short-term comparison but for long-term goals that can be evaluated annually or when warranted. The four pillars consist of Prevention, Treatment, Harm Reduction, and Enforcement, the whole plan and other details can be found here: http://vancouver.ca/fourpillars/index.htm

I would also work with council, the RCMP, and the provincial government to provide a liason between the police and those who commit crime and need treatment. Supt. Bill McKinnon has stated with almost every Bi-Monthly Police Report that it is the repeat offenders that need to satisfy a drug habit who cause most of the crime. We as a city have to act to make sure that those offenders know about treatment and that it is available, and that for their own good they should seek it.

[Jimbo Jones]

Thank you for your response Scott, that was the type of answer I was hoping to hear from our candidates for council and mayor. I appreciate your recognition of the problem, and the need for the municipality to be involved in dealing with it.

My wife and myself will now be voting for you on November 19.

[grammafreddy]

The current council, if I am not mistaken, has also embraced the Four Pillars concept.

The mayor was at least once to a seminar in Seattle (I think) about that, but I can be corrected on that, too. I do know she has been concerned about the whole drug/homeless problem.

I think the biggest problem is the judicial system right now.

[ScottRoss]

Jimbo Jones, thank you for the support. If you have any questions or comments on any other policy or have any concerns regarding anything else, please don't hesitate to contact me, my email is [email protected] and all other contact info is on my website at ScottRossForKelowna.com.

Grammafreddy I did see that in 2004 and 2005 the city did support the four pillars approach but there has been no continued application, indeed I have found no recent reference of the plan within the last five years, and certainly nothing in the degree or areas in which Vancouver has utilized the methods. I think this mayor and council are great community leaders, I respect all of them greatly, and I hope ideas to improve our city are not taken as criticism of our city government.

I agree there is a problem with our judicial system, but my opinion rests on the lack of resources given to that branch. I would be interested to know GF what you see as lacking or troubling when it comes to our judiciary.

[F23]

3-4 years ago the Regional District hired a Drug Policy Coordinator (based on the 4 Pillars approach) who liases very closely with the various levels- RCMP, Interior Health (responsible for public health, mental health, and substance use services), Crossroads, community organizations/other service providers, the relevant municipal governments, and housing. There has actually been incredible improvement in this area over the past several years, particularly with the various partnerships that have been formed and subsequent collaborative work towards substance use, mental health issues, and homelessness.

A large problem lies in our close proximity to Vancouver- we seem to have a regular stream of people moving down here from the lower mainland with increasingly complex issues. This was even more apparent prior to the Olympics as Vancouver attempted to move some of the transient population along. Regardless, there are services available and we have many outreach workers from various organizations offering support to those who have been around for a while, and who are new to town.

Something else this current Mayor and council have approved are community courts- offering a different strategy for rehabilitation for repeat offenders (minor offenses) which has shown very successful results in other communities.

[ScottRoss]

F23 do you have any informational references? I would be very grateful. I only ask because I've gone over a lot of files on the city website, city plans, programs and the like and though there was much city involvement initially in a four pillars approach, there now appears to be none. I am also finding very little information on any city plan to increase accessibility to drug treatment facilities, especially for repeat offenders.

I would also clarify that I would like to see a liason connecting repeat offenders with drug addictions to treatment services. Though a liason between departments might be beneficial in the Central Okanagan region, I support a liason that offers a direct connection between offenders and community resources, similar to how our current Domestic Violence Coordinator connects with victims. Vancouver is heavily involved in their four pillar program and I would like to see a similar level of support here.

Any links or reports would be much appreciated, thank you.

[grammafreddy]

Scott - the deficiencies you see as lacking in the city might really not be lacking at all, but are being handled as a regional function, with the city and other jurisdictions paying into the one bigger realm of assistance. There are a number of areas where the city contributes to a larger unit for implementation. The Okanagan Basin Water Board, the Animal Control issues, Invasive Species control (weeds) are just a few I can think of on the spur of the moment.

[Nebula]

New laws should be in place to totally banish drugs from our Country once and for all.

Really? We just make a law and, poof, drugs are gone? That easy?

I, personally think that all those involved in hard drugs and dealing, including all gangs should be eliminated.

Will you pull the trigger with the gun pointed at the 14-year-old smoking crack?