To the editor:
Re: Urban drug ghettos don't work (B.C. Views, Feb. 4).
Full credit goes to Tom Fletcher for being the first to scratch the surface of our failed "homelessness" model and his observation that money alone will not solve this crisis.
Throughout the world and throughout history, social ills have always been the result of shortages. Shortages of food, water and shelter were the result of a lack of resources. In our society, social ills are a result of excesses.
Too much money, too many calories, too much salt, too much alcohol, for example, are the result of oversupply.
Since losing my job in the oil and gas business in Calgary in 2008, I have been a regular user of our "homelessness" services and it is obvious to me that "homelessness" is a result of substance abuse, not poverty.
The province has a legal obligation to provide access to housing services, but we have an entire arsenal of housing resources on the federal, provincial and municipal level that are being abused.
Once again, congratulations to Fletcher and this paper for the courage to address the reality of this problem.
Eric Hoch
Campbell River