VANCOUVER—Near a busy corner of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a Mello Donut Shop employee rings through a customer, glancing through the window at a stooped-over man standing on the sidewalk. A few metres away, three people gather to exchange items outside a shuttered apartment building.
“We only accept cards, just to avoid any problems, and the washrooms are only for customers,” the employee told The Epoch Times on Aug. 28, asking not to be named due to privacy concerns.
It’s been over a year since B.C. reversed-course on its drug decriminalization pilot program with Ottawa, and local business owners and residents The Epoch Times spoke to said they’ve seen some improvements, such as fewer needles on the ground. Yet, they say, addiction-related issues remain ever present….