Rhino’s Ramblings - The Deadliest Weekend
By Robert Thomas Opinion\Commentary
Last weekend has to be one of the most shocking when it comes to narcotics and death in the city of Moose Jaw.
It was a weekend where the Moose Jaw Police Service (MJPS) issued a rare public warning/press release in the very early a.m. on Sunday morning about three overdose deaths within 48 hours.
I will be honest and tell you that the MJPS issuing a public warning through a news release in the early morning hours of a Sunday morning is unheard of.
For myself personally it tells me just how desperate the MJPS was to prevent further deaths.
This past week I did some digging around to not only see what happened, but also the big question as to who sadly passed away I couldn’t get away from the true impact of what happened last weekend.
Three families are now grieving their lost loved ones - more victims of addiction and despair.
Three more lives lost and families mourning their loved ones. Families looking for answers in a world where in reality there may be none.
The three deaths sent shockwaves amongst many in the city who are now calling for the MJPS to track down the dealers of death and charge them with murder.
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Others have asked me “How did Moose Jaw ever get this bad?”
It’s a tough question to answer let alone to find a solution to.
Drugs, the hard ones that kill, whether we like it or not, are readily available on the streets of Moose Jaw. If you know the right people you can buy what you want within minutes.
Perhaps it’s time we realize we might be a small city, but we’re not immune from the narcotic epidemic we often imagine only reserved for large metropolitan centres.
The drug problems dramatized in movies and popular television crime dramas are here but there is nothing glamorous about what is going on in Moose Jaw.
It’s ugly, it’s degrading and there is nothing glamorous about it.
The dealers of death are here. It is just that simple. It’s a fact we’ve been avoiding admitting as a community honestly now for years.
Moose Jaw is not immune to things like addiction, despair, petty crimes, weapons and yes death.
We may have tried to hide it but it’s something that is there and it’s not going to be wished away.
We have seen changes to how the MJPS responds to the drug epidemic that has rooted itself here.
The MJPS is out on bicycles and foot patrols now not just on Main Street but in the jewel of Moose Jaw - Crescent Park - as narcotics use and small scale drug deals are happening not just behind bushes but in plain sight.
It may calm the community to see the MJPS out in public view on the streets, sidewalks and grass bordered park paths during the daylight hours but in the end it’s a band aid.
It’s really cosmetic and a feel good pill for the community.
Just a few steps away the evidence is there - right in plain sight.
A needle disposal unit in the washroom of the Moose Jaw Public Library is often overflowing with needles - despite a tourism proponent telling me it’s from diabetic use.
Ignoring the fact the majority of people who are diabetics don’t use this type of gear anymore.
It may be out of public view and out of sight and out of mind but the problem is still there.
What happened last weekend - the tragic loss of three lives one as young as 17 years old - is something that should shock you. But sadly it hasn’t and like so many stories seems to have disappeared as quickly as the news cycle.
And yes I will be honest the three tragedies had people giving me three different reactions - that is after they asked me if I knew the names of those who had died.
The first reaction was one of rage.
A reaction of the hope the MJPS catches the people selling the drugs and hold them responsible. That is they are charged with murder.
The second one was a call for change.
In this reaction it was a blame the government reaction and if there was a safe injection site this wouldn’t have happened.
The third reaction I heard was this was all predictable.
That these people were “skids” and in the end likely “deserved it”.
Blunt, ugly and to the point. Sadly though it does not take into account the true meaning of their lives.
Lives now lost and sadly as quickly as the news cycle forgotten.
All that is left are their families to grieve and look back at memories on what went wrong. In the end how could this all happen and what could be done to stop all of it.
This is not something I would want to go through and I cannot imagine the pain their loved ones right now are enduring.
THE THREE TRAGEDIES THAT OCCURRED TO THREE FAMILIES THIS PAST WEEKEND SHOULD BE A WAKE UP CALL TO THIS COMMUNITY - BUT SADLY THEY’RE NOT.
I cannot honestly tell you much about the lives of the three people who sadly passed away last weekend.
I’ve heard the names of the people whose lives ended so tragically, and I actually think I may have met one or two of them - or at least their families - in my travels.
Personally deep down I don’t think they are bad people as I look back at their lives.
Lives now cut short like so many others - far too many - in an epidemic that is raging across this community.
It’s been here for years if you want the honest to goodness facts - perhaps as long as a decade or longer if you want the truth.
Now am I saying those who passed away are some nameless street person? Nope not at all.
But I did hear that for at least one of the people whose life was tragically cut short last weekend that it has been a major struggle for their family trying to get their loved one help.
It’s perhaps not a lack of services per say but how do you fight against drugs which can re-wire a person’s brain?
How do you cure something, or at least put it into permanent remission, when it eats away at your thoughts they say every single minute?
If anything comes out of this at least we as a community need to take the time to speak to our own families. Perhaps just by spending that small time with them may be the catalyst that protected them.
Now am I blaming the families for their lost loved ones? No, not at all.
They are part of the growing number of innocent victims of Moose Jaw’s drug epidemic.
And no I cannot say I understand their pain - I can’t. I’ve never walked an inch let alone a mile in their shoes.
I simply thank God I’ve never had to go through what they and far too many others in this community have gone through. If you want the honest truth it’s just a small step for all of us in an epidemic that targets everyone rich or poor.
It doesn’t discriminate.
Perhaps as a community we need to find a way to the best or abilities to understand and show some empathy to others who are going through something we hope we never have to go through.
They’re people mourning the loss of their loved ones. We need to remember that.
All I can say to the families is the advice given to me by my grandmother “as you look back on those who have passed away always try to look at the good times and forget the bad.”
My condolences to the families. Take it one day at a time - life gets better.