http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Work+starts+sobering+centre+next+month/3543299/story.html
Summary
A $22-million sobering centre will be constructed in Surrey next month to assist and house people with drug and alcohol addictions. The City of Surrey believes that this facility will help to reduce the crime rate. Police will take intoxicated people to this new facility as long as they have not committed any other crimes. They will not be locked up and just let out in the morning. Instead, there will be people trying to help them. There will also be a mental health clinic operated by the Phoenix Drug and Alcohol Recovery and Education Society. A representative from Fraser Health said that this sobering centre will cost about $5-million per year and that the money will come from the existing mental health budget.
Connections
Opportunity cost is what relates this article to our text. The opportunity cost for building this facility is $22-million with an additional $5-million per year. This large sum of cash (opportunity cost) could have been used to 1) better educate people about drugs and alcohol 2) hire more police and RCMP officers 3) improve conditions at the hospitals. Money is our scarce resource here and we are making decisions on how to spend it. We are spending this scarce resource on a facility to help better the community.
Reflections
In my opinion, I think that the opportunity cost ($22-million) is wasted on this centre. Where would all this money come from? Obviously from us tax payers. I dont' think that everyone would be willing to pay more taxes for addicts. In the long run, I do not believe that this centre will help to reduce Surreys’ crime rate because addicts will no longer be going to jail. Instead, they would be sent to this centre where they receive help instead of punishment. They would not feel the necessity to change for the better because they are most likely put in there unwillingly. As I stated above, the money could have been used to educate people about the abuse of alcohol and drugs. Perhaps this sobering centre would prevail but it would be awhile before there is any display of success or failure.
