Exactly one month ago, a petition calling for the removal of a meth clinic from its present downtown location at 217 Talbot St. garnered space on the front page of the Times-Journal.
The petition was spearheaded by area performer Traci Kennedy, and stated in part: “The people that grace that clinic are a disgrace to our community because they just don’t care how they behave or how their behaviour reflects on us. We as business owners and residents of St. Thomas should not have to feel like we are no longer safe in our home community.”
Reporter Nick Lypaczewski’s story – and a follow-up with clinic users who charged Kennedy’s generalizations detract from the positive strides former addicts have made – generated response from both sides of the fence.

The St. Thomas Medical Pharmacy’s Clinic 217 shown is located on Talbot Street at the New and Wlliam Street intersection near the west entrance to the city.

And the feedback continues, with increasing support for the efforts of the meth clinic, as witness passionate letters submitted this week from two readers.
“To read Traci Kennedy’s heartless rants, one almost gets the feeling that she lives in a glass house, albeit with a sordid, decrepit view of Talbot Street,” writes Sharon Hodgson of St. Thomas.
Hodgson is a community service worker and continues with this observation: “I am not surprised she believes she has the perception of support to eliminate Clinic 217, along with any addiction clients, as the city does have a well-known reputation for victimizing its vulnerable.
“Whether those vulnerable be addicted, alcoholic, homeless, women fleeing domestic assault, sole-mother families, disability recipients or homosexual.”
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