sa国际传媒淐offee or crack?sa国际传媒� is the caption over the video a former Maple Ridge city councillor posted on her social media page, showing a man smoking something at a table at a Tim Hortons restaurant.
He appears to be using a pipe or tube, above a piece of tinfoil, and a puff of smoke appears over his head. An elderly woman can be seen in a booth directly beside his.
sa国际传媒淭his is your City of Maple Ridge are you proud?sa国际传媒� asked Chelsa Meadus.
The video has gone viral, shared across many social media platforms and pages. It was also the subject of news reports over the weekend. Staff at the 224th Street/Lougheed Highway location reported that the drug fumes forced them to evacuate the restaurant, and itsa国际传媒檚 an ongoing problem.
There are 124 comments under the Meadus post, and the vast majority of comments are sa国际传媒淒isgusting,sa国际传媒� sa国际传媒淢aple Ridge RCMP should be notified..sa国际传媒�, sa国际传媒渟a国际传媒ow I cansa国际传媒檛 let my kids go to Tim Hortons without mesa国际传媒a国际传媒�, and sa国际传媒淭his is just brutal. Decriminalization seems to be working.sa国际传媒�
Mike Farnworth, the BC Minister of Public Safety, also weighed in, saying he was disgusted by the video, and that the culprits should have been arrested and charged.
The Ridge Meadows RCMP did not respond to questions about the incident.
Meadus said she is no stranger to such scenes, staffing the nearby office of Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MP Marc Dalton.
sa国际传媒淚 work very close to there, thatsa国际传媒檚 something I see every day, but it seems to be worse,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淧eople are no longer hiding their drug use.sa国际传媒�
She said the city needs to tell the province whatsa国际传媒檚 happening due to its decriminalization policies that allow possession of small amounts of hard drugs, including crack, meth and fentanyl.
sa国际传媒淚f the whole point was to reduce overdoses, then thatsa国际传媒檚 a failed policy,sa国际传媒� she said, noting that the number of overdoses from illicit drug use continues to climb.
Maple Ridge Mayor Dan Ruimy saw the video for the first time weeks ago, and had city staff and community safety officers visit the restaurant.
sa国际传媒淎s soon as I saw it, we had everyone mobilized,sa国际传媒� said Ruimy.
Ruimy said the city is working to have more enforcement and visibility in the downtown core. For example, the new Project Sentinel announced by the Ridge Meadows RCMP will increase downtown patrols, and in the words of Superintendent Wendy Mehat when she announced the project, it will sa国际传媒渉elp address public safety concerns of the business community.sa国际传媒�
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The city also has community safety officers, and private security companies who respond to business and citizen complaints during the later hours.
Ruimy said the onus is on business owners and management to tell people not to smoke or use drugs inside their buildings, or to call police, CSOs or Westridge Security to deal with the situation.
sa国际传媒淚t would have been responded to very quickly,sa国际传媒� he said.
The city will try new initiatives, and is talking about having a sa国际传媒減op-up cop shopsa国际传媒� at the corner of 224th Street and Lougheed Highway, and at other downtown locations, said Ruimy. Details are still being firmed up.
Last summersa国际传媒檚 Project Dovetail brought more RCMP, city bylaws and Westridge Security into the downtown, and shoplifting incidents were cut in half. That proved having more uniforms visible makes an impact, said Ruimy.
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Ruimy also spoke against people with political ambitions using a serious issue to score political points. The city image and downtown entrepreneurs took a hit, he said.
sa国际传媒淓nough with the rage farming,sa国际传媒� he said. sa国际传媒淟etsa国际传媒檚 not use our city as cannon fodder for the next political election.
sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 trying to find solutions.sa国际传媒�
Both he and Meadus said Victoria needs to provide treatment for those battling addiction.
sa国际传媒淭he province needs to step up with recovery homes, and they need homes for people on the streets,sa国际传媒� said Ruimy.
Meadus said the province should supply more than that sa国际传媒� she would ask for more CSOs to police open drug use brought about by decriminalization.
