Homelessness — and drug use among that community — is rising at an alarming rate.

It’s always been a “big city” problem. Apparently, I now live in a big city.

The first time I saw someone shoot heroin was in Vancouver’s east side. But I’d never seen it here at home, not until recently.

Since 2020 things have taken a turn. The homeless population has been growing in the inner city. Tent encampments are widening in scope. It’s common to see people smoking crack and meth in broad daylight, in very public places. And I see multiple people nodding out every week — occasionally in otherwise clean shopping centres in suburbia.

They’re mostly harmless, but their numbers are rising significantly.

And I don’t blame them for using. If I was homeless I would probably numb the pain too. But if we’re going to fix this issue, we need to find a way to the root cause.

Over the last few years, more people didn’t suddenly decide to become homeless. Even fewer decided to become junkies. Something is wrong within our society. The current system no longer works.

When scenes from East Van are popping up in quiet suburbs across the country, something is seriously broken.