A variety of local stakeholders gathered at the Capitol Theatre on Monday afternoon for what was billed as a “Community Conservation” on the issue of homelessness and substance abuse in Chatham-Kent.
One of the speakers was the Executive Director of the CK Community Health Centres.
Sherri Saunders says addiction in the community is not limited to drugs.
“We have legalization of marijuana this week, we have a casino coming to Chatham, we have individuals addicted to sex and pornography,” she said. “We have a full gambit of addictions.”
Saunders says the lack of detox centre for the area is also a major concern.
Chatham-Kent’s Medical Officer of Health again reiterated his assertion that all drugs should be legalized.
Dr. David Colby says the issue of substance abuse should be dealt with as a social and medical issue and not a criminal one.
Meantime, a paralegal with the Chatham-Kent Legal Clinic says more social and affordable housing is an integral part of the equation to combat the issues.
“I think that housing is probably the cornerstone for getting people back on their feet,” said Jeff Wilkins. “You at least have a place to go at the end of the day where you can forget about the worries of the world.”
He says the provincial government should put money into the issue of housing because the need continues to grow
Information from the two-hour event will be gathered and compiled into a report to be available in the next month or so.
“It’ll be shared widely,” said the project coordinator for the Chatham-Kent Prosperity Roundtable, Phillip Mock. “The idea is to get the community’s information level up.”
The gathering came about, at least in part, to correct misinformation recently posted on social media.
