Editor:
The service HACHR provides seems incredibly inadequate (“Point of Contention,” Feb. 4). I feel a lot more sympathy for the neighbors in close proximity to that organization than the addicts who play by their own rules anyway. It seems more control and responsibility are warranted. I don’t claim to know the ins and outs of how to deal with all the problems associated with this problem, but I do know this: The problem is far reaching.
I frequent a beach on the bay across from Eureka proper and subsequently find myself picking up a lot of garbage. This actually happens in most places I go with my dogs (people are such slobs), but what is different are all the needles. Some get swept over by the tides or weather from Eureka. Many are left there by people indulging themselves while drinking, smoking cigarettes (leaving mounds of butts or plastic filters) and shooting up. These people do not care a wit about the crap they leave behind. It and they disgust me!
HACHR’s facility on Third street is not a world of its own. It is part of a neighborhood that seems to be overlooked. Neighbors’ concerns are ignored in favor of HACHR clients. Obviously, much, much, much more needs to be done.
Kathryn Travers, Eureka
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Point of Contention
This article appears in Triple Homicide Leaves Loleta ‘Heartbroken’.
I was picking up some syringes at a beach in Samoa and another beach goer began a conversation with me and told me of his idea for Sharps deposit containers at each parking spot along the peninsula. Good idea, but after pondering it I think that if every pole of any kind in Humboldt had such a container my dogs would not be at such risk and I could wear sandals again. It would probably eventually hurt tourism, but in reality tourists from most places should not come here or we should have billboards on both ends of 101 and on 255 and 36 warning people that we care more for drug addicts here than most places. Gives me a warm fuzzy feeling that we are so nice.
Amsterdam provides places for addicts to take their drugs legally and it has zero effect on tourism. Their country, like every other industrialized nation except the U.S., provides universal public healthcare while treating addiction properly, as a disease for those seeking recovery.
The indigent and homeless have nowhere to conceal their addiction and must trek miles each day for the smallest of life’s necessities, including discarding their trash.
Many of their belongings were already discarded by the housed, where the addiction epidemic is hidden, huge quantities of garbage are hidden, and their children and teen’s suffering in the diabetes epidemic are responsible for many carelessly discarded needles.
Bigoted and prejudicial hatred of the poor and destitute keeps Americans divided instead of outraged that the U.S. is failing to provide its people with solutions via adequate services being demonstrated worldwide.