The horror of the addictions crisis in Campbell River hit employees of the citysa国际传媒檚 Dairy Queen restaurant particularly hard Wednesday, Oct. 25.

Thatsa国际传媒檚 when a 13-year-old child overdosed in the restaurant in front of the staff, many of them young people themselves. The incident was brought to public attention by Mayor Kermit Dahl.

sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檇 like to recognize that the somewhat new owner of the local Dairy Queen is here and let him know that this council is very supportive of the businesses in our downtown and doing what we can to help and recognize the tragic event that his assistant manager and young staff had to deal with last night of a young child overdosing in his restaurant,sa国际传媒� the mayor said at the Oct. 26 city council meeting. sa国际传媒淚 cansa国际传媒檛 imagine what that would be like.sa国际传媒�

The incident occurred around 9:40 p.m., just before the restaurantsa国际传媒檚 closing time. The individual was revived and the incident reported to the RCMP, DQ owner Rob Bigelow said.

Dahlsa国际传媒檚 statement came as another neighbour of Campbell Riversa国际传媒檚 downtown Overdose Prevention Site (OPS) sa国际传媒� and a neighbour of the Dairy Queen sa国际传媒� asked the city designate the facility a nuisance property.

Ryan Sundquist, manager of the Campbell River Lordco Auto Parts is the fourth business making that request after years of dealing with disturbing and criminal behaviour arising from the clientele of the OPS. Bigelow also requested the OPS be designated a nuisance property in late September; sending a letter to council outlining the issues he and his staff are forced to deal with due to the proximity of the OPS.

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sa国际传媒淭he Dairy Queen has been subject to countless thefts, threats of violence, and a place to abuse drugs on a daily basis by the patrons of the OPS,sa国际传媒� Bigelow said in his letter. sa国际传媒淲esa国际传媒檝e had to put a barrier up on front of our washrooms to make them only available to customers.sa国际传媒�

Two years ago, Bigelow says, the DQsa国际传媒檚 assistant manager, who was pregnant at the time, asked a crowd of people abusing drugs on the patio to move along. She was threatened by a person with an illegally-obtained taser. Last spring, there was an incident involving someone waving a stolen sawed-off shotgun around the restaurantsa国际传媒檚 side door.

Bigelow said his restaurant has long been a first job for many young people in Campbell River but now parents are refusing to let their kids work there.

Dahl said that he worked in a Dairy Queen when he was sa国际传媒測oung guysa国际传媒� in Alberta.

sa国际传媒淚 couldnsa国际传媒檛 imagine having been at potentially your very first job yousa国际传媒檝e ever taken and having to deal with someone whosa国际传媒檚 younger than you sa国际传媒� overdosing in the restaurant,sa国际传媒� Dahl said. sa国际传媒淭he psychological impact of that on kids; I donsa国际传媒檛 think that most people can imagine. Or most people even take the time to think about what thatsa国际传媒檚 like; if it was your son or daughter, your grandson, your granddaughter thatsa国际传媒檚 working in that situation.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淭he things that my team are exposed to on a daily basis include dealing with shoplifters, having people walk through our parking lot checking our cars to see if they are unlocked so they can break into them, finding tons of needles and human faeces in our parking lot is a regular occurrence, let alone the cost to Lordco for all of the vandalism we deal with on a regular basis,sa国际传媒� Sundquistsa国际传媒檚 letter says.

He adds later, sa国际传媒淥n several occasions we have come in to find unresponsive people in our parking lot or on the front curb, which is very traumatic to anyone who thinks they just found someone dead on the ground.sa国际传媒�

In September, city council requested a report from staff on the nuisance property designation. City manager Elle Brovold said she will bring an update on that report to the next city council meeting, which is Nov. 9.

Dahl expressed his assurances to Bigelow and other downtown businesses that council is sa国际传媒減aying attentionsa国际传媒� to their concerns.

sa国际传媒淲e hear whatsa国际传媒檚 going on,sa国际传媒� the mayor said. sa国际传媒淎nd wesa国际传媒檙e trying to do everything that we can to support the people suffering homelessness and addiction but also the businesses that are trying to operate within our downtown.sa国际传媒�

READ MORE: Campbell River approves nearly half a million a year for downtown safety

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