‘Old Testament for the drug dealers, New Testament for the drug users’: Kinew

City and provincial politicians praised a massive drug bust announced by Winnipeg police this week, with the premier saying his government’s approach to the drug crisis is biblical.

The Winnipeg Police Service announced Wednesday that investigators had pulled 525 kilograms of methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl off the streets and made 33 arrests during the two-year probe, dubbed Project Puma.

Premier Wab Kinew, at an event Thursday, said the province’s stance on illegal drugs is: “Old Testament for the drug dealers, New Testament for the drug users.”

Police must go after drug traffickers, while people struggling with addictions must be offered supports to recover, Kinew said.

“Harm reduction and compassion and recovery for people has to be a part of this, but folks on the progressive, the left side of the spectrum need to understand that… law enforcement is part of a public health approach to drugs,” he said.

Winnipeg Mayor Scott Gillingham also commended the police investigation and said city firefighters and paramedics are already “run off their feet” with the amount of toxic substances already on the street.

“We need to hold people accountable who are pushing the drugs that are killing our community members — enough is enough,” said the mayor.

“These people who are arrested and charged, I want to see the full force of the law thrown at them, because this is killing our community members, it’s running our emergency services off their feet, and it’s absolutely making a difference in businesses.”

Jamil Mahmood, executive director of Main Street Project, said organizations that provide harm reduction services to people with addictions aren’t opposed to police arresting drug traffickers.

But, he said, major disruptions to the supply of drugs in the city tend to result in more dangerous substances being added to what’s available for sale on the street, leading to more overdoses and more strain on those who respond to them.

“The demand for drugs isn’t going down just because the supply is removed,” said Mahmood.

In April, there was a spike in fatal drug overdoses in Winnipeg. Main Street Project said 10 people who used its services died of overdoses in the first two weeks of that month.

He said front-line service providers need more resources to respond to the overdose crisis. “It’s about people dying on our streets,” said Mahmood.

He said governments must work on creating a robust mental health and addictions response system, with the public health system involved, along with a long-term strategy to address addictions.

He emphasized that he’s not looking to get into a fight with the premier or the mayor over the issue.

“We want to work with them, to develop these strategies for the community,” said Mahmood.

“Let’s form a task force, let’s form an action table, let’s form something together and bring the great minds of Winnipeg together, to solve this problem in a good way.”

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca