The plan to open an addiction recovery support house in Brackendale has given light to a lot of different emotions among residents this past week.
The vocal majority are incensed and dead-set against the recovery house being put in their "backyards". While there are some valid issues with the seemingly conspiratorial way the information came out to the public, much of the debate can be chalked up to NIMBY-ism of the highest degree.
To begin, Vancouver Coastal Health and Sea to Sky Community Services did a pretty bad job informing the public about what was happening. According to Brackendale residents, at about 4 p.m. on March 3 an invitation was handed out to about five neighbours of the proposed recovery house. The less-than-forthcoming invitations merely requested the neighbours presence for tea and coffee to talk about new "services". After some investigating, one suspicious Brackendale resident found out about the plans for the house, and you know what hit the fan.
Looking at how communication was handled, either officials were so naïve as to think the recovery house would not cause any community concern, or they knew it would and decided to be cagey about the whole affair. Had there been better communication, and sooner, the issue probably would not have blown up in their faces.
Also, although officials say it is not a "drug rehab", that is what it most certainly is, in fact. 'Recovery house' is just pretty euphemistic language, which means the same thing, but in a softer tone. It is just a matter of connotation. Rehabilitation or recovery - it is all the same side of the coin. As for drugs: well, alcohol is a drug (and one which kills more people than crack, cocaine and heroin combined) and we've been told the house will support those recovering from alcohol addiction, mainly. But bad communication aside, the recovery house is a fine addition to the health services available in our community, and it should be welcomed with open arms.
Where people are having problems is with the word "addict" or "addiction", because those words conjure up images of Vancouver's downtown eastside and skinny junkies shooting up in doorways and in parks. The word "addict" also has a criminal connotation, so naturally people in the immediate neighbourhood of the house are afraid those elements will be walking the same streets as their children.
But, according to VHA and STSCS folks, the house will support up to six recovering patients who have already done the lion's share of their treatment, and simply want to be closer to the community in which they live. The house will not be supporting those on drug rehab programs such as methadone, but rather the majority of its occupants will be recovering alcoholics, according to officials. It's funny, but nobody complains about their alcoholic neighbour, until he decides to seek treatment and is labeled an addict.
It's easy to simply say "no" out of fear. It's tougher to be a good neighbour.
