STEPHAN: The lie of harm reduction

Lawyer and chartered accountant Jason Stephan is the United Conservative Party MLA for Red Deer South.Truth is wonderful. We can trust in truth. Truth leads to better choices and more happiness. Yet, there are many lies around us. And a failure to comprehend things as they were, as they really are, as they will be, results in bad choices and unhappiness. Sometimes lies are cloaked in words which distort their true outcomes. One such lie is so called “harm reduction.” One government program under the heading of harm reduction is “safe supply.” Safe supply is a lie. It is not “safe”.Another government program under the heading of harm reduction is an “overdose prevention site.” That is a lie also — these sites do not prevent overdoses.Consider this, if your neighbor was drowning in filthy waters, would you row a boat out and do nothing, watching your neighbor flail and choke beside you in filthy waters, and just before he was about to go under, grab his hair as he was about to drown? And then, gasping for air, would you let him go, so that he resumes flailing and choking in filthy waters? What if you kept doing that bizarre thing?What would be the normal thing to do? Get them out of filthy waters and onto shore, of course. Begin with the end in mind — for men and women drowning in filthy waters of addiction, that means recovery, not drug sites that keep them in those filthy waters.Supervised consumption/overdose prevention sites are in fact drug sites — where illegal drugs are consumed accompanied with many other bad things.Albertans did not ask for drug sites in their communities. Government imposed them on Albertans.As a private citizen, prior to serving as an MLA, I attended packed town hall meetings at Red Deer City Hall. The vast majority of townhall participants did not want the NDP to impose a drug site in Red Deer. They did anyway. The drug site in Red Deer has now been in our community for too many years and its impacts are evident for all to see. Let’s speak plainly and honestly. Drug sites in Alberta are an attraction for individuals seeking to live in drug addictions. Because of drug sites, there are more, not less, individuals living in addiction, in communities with drug sites. There is an exodus of businesses from areas containing drug sites. I have seen it. There is too much stealing, too much vandalizism, too much uncertainty for local businesses, their employees, their customers.Regardless of good intentions, the truth is that drug sites facilitate a growing lawlessness, including embedding and emboldening criminal elements, which either abuse drug sites or prey on those living in addictions, some of whom support addiction lifestyles through stealing or robbing businesses and families in our communities. The truth is that “harm reduction” drug sites result in “harm production” to businesses and individuals in our communities seeking to peaceably live their lives, working, and raising their families.Communities that do not want drug sites should not be forced to have them.Red Deer City Council, listening to its citizens and businesses, passed a motion to get the drug site out of Red Deer. The Alberta government listened, announcing that the drug site will be removed out of Red Deer. That is good for Red Deer! Other Alberta municipalities that have suffered with drug sites will follow Red Deer and will seek to get drug sites out of their communities also.It is good to confront and reject harm reduction lies, get drug consumption sites out of Alberta, and support recovery for those suffering under addiction, blessing themselves, their families, and our communities. Alberta is the best province in a nation in trouble. Our lives belong to ourselves, not government. The machine is not greater than the creator. Alberta is a land of freedom and prosperity. We must be vigilant to keep it that way.Lawyer and chartered accountant Jason Stephan is the United Conservative Party MLA for Red Deer South.

STEPHAN: The lie of harm reduction

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