|
Petition
Presented March 19, 2008
To establish a long-term drug and alcohol addictions
treatment facility in the Province of Newfoundland and
Labrador.
Home
| In the House | Petitions
The hon. the Leader of
the Opposition.
MS JONES: Thank
you, Mr. Speaker.
I present a petition
today on behalf of the people of Newfoundland and
Labrador, and they are petitioning the government to
look at a long-term drug and alcohol addictions
treatment facility for the residents of this Province.
Mr. Speaker, there are
some short-stay programs that do exist in Newfoundland
and Labrador, but they are inadequate in meeting the
bigger needs of addicts that we have out there in our
society.
Mr. Speaker, this
petition is being spearheaded by Ron Fitzpatrick and the
group at Turnings. This is a group, Mr. Speaker, that
has tried to draw attention and awareness to the drug
problems that exist in our communities, especially here
in the capital city, and they have done so with very
limited funding. In fact, Mr. Speaker, I understand that
they receive no funding from the provincial government
at this particular time but they do get some grants from
the federal government to carry out the work and the
programs that they do.
Mr. Speaker, anyone who
thinks that drug addiction is not a problem in
Newfoundland and Labrador are not facing up to the real
problems that exist. We have seen that not only are
addictions on the rise but as a result of these
addictions we have seen more violence in our
communities, we have seen more break and enters, we have
seen more vandalism. All of these things will continue
if the problem and the source of the problem are not
treated. Not only does it cause havoc in families and
homes and in communities, but it also causes a
tremendous amount of expenditure for the provincial
government when these particular drug addicts are
continued to be out there and not be treated in the
community. Not only do we see convictions and the cost
of these convictions, but we see the cost of the courts,
the cost of holding them in penitentiaries, and as we
know, those costs are escalating on an annual basis. I
think incarceration now in this Province can cost you
anywhere from $65,000 to well over $100,000 a year. I do
not think that we need to be continuing to see the rise
of the cost of treating addictions in our health care
sector and in our court system and in our penitentiaries
when we should be out there taking action to prevent the
use of drugs and to educate people.
Mr. Speaker, one of the
things that is becoming alarming to me is the amount of
drugs that are appearing in our schools throughout the
Province and the number of children who are engaging in
drugs. It seems to be happening at a younger age. It
seems to be more available. In fact, one of the RNC
reports, and I think it was the chief of the RNC who
made the statement, that getting drugs on the street in
this city today is easier than getting a cup of coffee.
When you have the chief of police out making those kinds
of statements, I think it should give you some idea of
how this problem has escalated in our society, how it
deserves to have the attention of government and people
who make laws and make decisions and facing the reality
that if these people are not treated their addictions
will continue. At the present time we do not have
adequate addiction facilities to treat those long-term
needs of people who are in the Province that require
those kinds of in-depth interventions and long-term
stays.
I support this petition.
We have a number of names. We will be bringing forward a
number of more petitions as we come back to the House
after Easter.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. |
