Church besieged by drugs

Photo: Contributed

The Penticton United Church is exhausted with the local drug problem, and is erecting “no trespassing” signs this week.

Minister Laura Turnbull says a drastic rise in loitering and drug use in stairwells and on fire exits is becoming a danger and burden to those that attend the church on Main Street.

She said bylaw and RCMP recommended erecting no trespassing signs, an “extremely hard” decision the church moved forward with this week.

“We certainly want to be an open welcoming place, but on the other hand we can't have the kind of loitering and amount of drug paraphernalia and other garbage that is being left around,” Turnbull said.

“It’s just not safe, we have a Sunday school program here and many other programs.”

She says they’ve always dealt with drug issues around the church, but things have gotten much worse this year. A newly-formed vigilante night-watch group, unaffiliated with the church, has focused its efforts around the property.

Turnbull is calling on government to improve access to housing in the city.

“Housing is absolutely essential. We simply do not have enough affordable housing… there is just nothing to rent in this community right now, affordable or not,” she said, adding she would like to see better harm-reduction strategies to fight the addiction crisis.