Addicts often get help from the city's emergency shelters or social housing locations, but there is no safe harbour for illegal substances.
While the city's health, judicial and government leaders try to figure out ways of reducing the effects of substance abuse, the operators of these frontline facilities say these addictions are not being enabled under their roof.
"We, of course, don't allow drugs in the shelter and most people who know the shelter's rules know that, and there are signs all over the place," said Active Support Against Poverty (ASAP)
Executive Director Audrey Schwartz, based at Bridget Moran Place where overnight crash pads and residential suites are available for those trying to stave off street life. "Drugs are illegal and not allowed in our shelter, and if we have to call police we will. These are adults in our shelters and they know the laws and the rules. They also know their belongings can be checked at any time, and they are checked. Our staff is fantastic at it and attempt to make sure that doesn't come through. If you are staying long-term, you can store your stuff with us but it is searched and can be searched at any time."
She said street-level addicts typically have such an acute physiological need for the next fix that they will use their drugs almost as fast as they take possession. They don't tend to stash them for later, so when they arrive at the shelter's door the drugs are usually gone.
The paraphernalia is often still with them, however, but there is nothing illegal about having a couple of needles or a pipe in your pocket.
"One of the reasons I quit was that part of the job," said a former employee of the Association Advocating for Women and Children (AWAC), who spoke on condition of anonymity. "We would have to collect all their paraphernalia. We would store it for them overnight, and give it back to them in the morning."
The former staffer confirmed, strenuously, that the statements of shelter managers were true: no drugs were tolerated.
"Drugs we would flush. They could never have drugs in there," said the former employee.
The Phoenix Transition House is not a street-level facility, it takes in women and their children when they need somewhere to go to avoid an abuser at home. A great cross-section of society comes through their doors including those who have an addiction.
"This is a zero-tolerance house," said Sharon Hurd, executive director at Phoenix. "Others are more tolerant but when you come to Phoenix it is to make a change in your life, and we will work with you on that. If you are incapacitated we wold take you up to detox or one of the lower threshold places in town, and we would ask you to come back with a clean urinalysis. It happens."
She can't ever remember a time when one of the women arriving at their door was in possession of drugs at the time. She also can't remember a time when she had to kick someone out of the house for using illicit drugs on their property.
The residents at Phoenix are aided in whatever social recovery they need, said Hurd, everything from employment referrals to healthcare needs. When someone there wants to tackle an addiction, a support network with drug recovery specialists in the community is already in place connected to Phoenix, and many of the other shelters too.
The Prince George Native Friendship Centre (NFC) has the largest number of shelters in the B.C.'s northern capital, housing a wide range of users at different stages on the social ladder. NFC executive director Barb Ward-Burkitt said it is not uncommon for some of those clients to be drug-dependent.
"Illicit drugs are illegal and as such are not allowed in any of our programs or buildings," Ward-Burkitt. "People who access our programs may have substance abuse issues but they are very respectful of our programs and staff and if known to be in possession of illicit drugs while on our premises are reported to the RCMP."
All the social recovery leaders spoken to said they usually have a personal knowledge of the individuals in their programs, so drug concerns come to the surface quickly. But times of addiction, said Ward-Burkitt, is not the time to turn your back on someone.
"If people are deep in their addiction they unfortunately usually disengage from services until they are healthy enough to reach out again," she said. "These times may be when they are most vulnerable and in need of shelter, food and someone to talk to who cares about them. We have Outreach Services to try to make sure we can connect to them in these times."
The RCMP is another agency that frequently deals with the same people, and they are there if the shelters need backup when someone's behaviour (drug-fueled or otherwise) at the shelter becomes unsafe to others. Something must be going well, said the RCMP's leader of the Downtown Enforcement Unit, because police intervention in those places is on a downswing.
"What happens inside the shelters is basically unknown to us, we get so few calls to attend there anymore," said Cpl. Kent MacNeill. "It has been quiet. They call us when it gets out of hand, but that hasn't been happening there anymore, and I remember not long ago we were regularly in there. It was common. Not anymore. I think they are doing a really good job of dealing with matters, and the clients are being respectful of the house rules."
