'I hate it': St. John's panhandler asks for help in wake of median crackdown

A panhandler in St.John's says asking for money each day at busy intersections isn't how he wants to spend his life, but with few skills and a drug addiction, he'strapped in a vicious circle.

"Idon't want to be doing this. Ihate it," Christopher, who only gave his first name, told CBC News.

Christopher said he fell into a downward spiralwhen he was prescribed strong pain medication after an accident, and now must continue to scrape together spare change totake the drugs.

• Panhandlers in busy medians a safety risk, says St. John's councillor

"It's the worst monkey to have on my shoulders, 'cause it takes up my whole day having to do this. Collect just a little bit, enough money so Icannot be sick. Itdoesn't get me high, it just makes me not sick."

Addiction and poverty issues weren't mentionedby the City of St. John's earlier this week, when Coun.Art Puddisterannounced police had beguncracking down on panhandlers at busy intersections, citing it as a safety issue.

"It's no more dangerous than walking on this sidewalk," said Christopher.

Programs, not police

Christopher said while he's heard of the crackdown, he has bigger concerns than the police:trying to feed his addiction, feed himself, and find a way out.

It's like the worst rut. I can't seem to see the light of day to get out of it.- Christopher

"Ican't find a doctorthat would be willing to help me out," he said, adding a more individualized approach to addictions would go a long way.

"The only thing that they offer is methadone, and I've been on that once before.My worst fear about that is it just sucked all the motivation out of me, whatsoever. Ididn't want to get off the couch.Ididn't want to do anything."

Christopher said he has no support system besides his ailing father, and no valuable job skills to be able to better himself.

"It's like the worst rutIcan't seem to see the light of day to get out of it."

Christopher said when he lived in Alberta, there were programs to help people in his situation. He said there isnothing like that in St. John's.

"If there were programs and stuff here, Iwould totally take advantage of it. Totally."