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Petition
Presented March 13, 2008
To establish a long-term drug and alcohol addictions
treatment facility in the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador.
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The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I rise today to present
another petition on behalf of the people in Newfoundland
and Labrador that are taking up the cause against drug
addictions in our society and are asking that the
government look at establishing a long-term drug and
alcohol addictions treatment facility in the Province.
Mr. Speaker, I already
outlined generally the reasoning for this petition on
the first day I presented it. Yesterday, I emphasized
the impact of drug addictions on families. Today, I
would like to talk a bit, in presenting this, about the
impact of drug addictions on the community as a whole.
Mr. Speaker, we have seen
and experienced in this Province first-hand what the
result of drug addictions are. We have lived, Mr.
Speaker, in fear of our homes being broken into, of our
cars being stolen, of our workplaces being invaded in
the late hours of the morning, and being held at
gunpoint or knifepoint by people who are looking for
money to fix their addictions. We hear about it on the
6:00 o’clock news on many, many occasions about the
kind of crime that has been caused in our city due to
the fact that the increasing number of people who have
addictions out there not being treated is adding to this
problem more and more everyday.
Mr. Speaker, I had an
opportunity to be well educated on this issue by a man
in the name of Ron Fitzpatrick, an individual who has
taken up the cause for addicts and their families
throughout our Province in the efforts of providing
safety and safety measures in our communities so that we
can all feel safer in our homes and in our workplaces.
Mr. Fitzpatrick has worked with people who suffer from
addictions and understands the needs and the services
that they require. The work that he has done through an
organization called Turnings has certainly been able to
advance the services that are required but also to
advance the education that comes with understanding
addictions and the impact that they have in our
community.
I think probably the
greatest stress of addictions in our society is that on
the criminal system. Mr. Speaker, not only do we deal
with the fact that people are being charged, people are
taken into our courts on drug related crimes, and there
is a cost that is attached to all of that. By the time
you get through the court system, which is a heavy price
that the Province pays and the government pays, then
many of these people are incarcerated and the cost then
escalates for the taxpayers and for the people of the
community, sometimes in the amounts of hundreds of
thousands of dollars that are being paid out. In our
Province, already we know the cost of keeping one person
in prison, if it is a male it is $65,000 a year. Mr.
Speaker, if you add on the price of remand hospital
treatments, it is likely to go up about another $80,000
a year.
Mr. Speaker, I know my
time is almost up. If I could by leave, just for a
second there to clue up?
MR. SPEAKER:
Does the hon. member have leave?
AN HON. MEMBER:
Just to clue up.
MR. SPEAKER:
The hon. member, by leave.
MS JONES: Thank
you.
Mr. Speaker, we also know
that the cost of holding women in our penitentiaries is
even higher than that. The cost of four women is at
$93,000 a year. Anytime that you have escalated
addictions in a region which is contributing to a higher
crime rate - which many of these cases end up in the
court system and then result in incarceration of
individuals. At the end of the day, the bill to the
taxpayer is a very high substantial cost to the taxpayer
of the Province. That is why I support the petition that
has been presented by thousands of people in the
Province asking the government to look at some kind of a
treatment facility that will help take drug addicts off
our streets, rehabilitate them, provide rehabilitation
to their families as well so that we can all enjoy
living in a healthier society.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. |
