Pubdate: Thu, 17 Apr 2003
Source: Monday Magazine (CN BC)
Copyright: 2003 Monday Publications
Contact:  http://mondaymag.com/monday/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1150
Author: Adrienne Mercer

DRUG USERS NEED INFORMATION, SAYS SOLID PRESIDENT

Information about the Society of Living Intravenous Drug-users' weekly 
meetings could mean the difference between life and death for local drug 
users, says Garth Perry. "If somebody needs our help and they can't get to 
the group [because they don't know about the meetings], ultimately, someone 
could die," Perry says. "We have a right to be heard."

But with SOLID's posters quickly disappearing from Fernwood and Oak Bay 
postering locations, the new non-profit society's president is frustrated 
by the thought that the organization could be facing discrimination from 
some members of the business community.

Last Saturday, about a dozen SOLID members protested outside the George and 
Dragon pub, charging that owner Allan Sproule has removed the group's 
posters from Fernwood poles and poster kiosks. The pub is located just half 
a block from The Little Fernwood, where users hold their weekly meetings.

Perry says he thinks Sproule has targeted the posters because he doesn't 
want drug users to congregate in Fernwood. "We rely on businesses and 
agencies to put our posters up, and we put them on community bulletin 
boards to get our message out," says Perry. "These guys [at the George and 
Dragon] think they have the right to decide what's right for Fernwood."

Sproule confirms he has taken down Perry's posters, but says it has nothing 
to do with the subject matter. "It's not like I have something specifically 
against [the user group]," he says. "I understand they want to get the 
message out. But with the exception of garage sales and lost and found 
cats, nobody ever comes back to clean up [outdated posters]." Sproule says 
he doesn't pull posters off of the designated kiosk provided by the city, 
but regularly removes them from telephone poles, because city bylaws don't 
allow posters there anyway.

Perry says when he first began postering, he did use telephone poles, until 
he learned city bylaws don't allow it. But he explains that SOLID is 
exempted from having to inform members about meetings by mail or phone 
(something most other organizations are required to do). So the only way 
users can find out about the meetings is through posters, or word of mouth.

When FIX: The Story of an Addicted City showed at the Cineplex Odeon in 
February and March, viewers donated more than $5,000 to help start a local 
user group modeled after the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, the 
organization featured in the film. Some of that money paid for the posters.

"Getting $5,000 donated by the people of Victoria is a really loud 
statement," says Perry. "They want to give SOLID a voice in the community."

At the weekly meetings, Perry says users can learn how to inject safely, or 
can be referred to services to help them get off drugs. SOLID members have 
also organized needle cleanups and a needle exchange. "One day, we ended up 
exchanging 5,000 needles, one-to-one," he says.

Sproule says he saw FIX when it was in town, and posted advertising for the 
film inside the George and Dragon. "[The film] scared the living daylights 
out of me . . . I hate to sound like my grandfather, but there but for the 
grace of god," he says. He insists he is supportive of what SOLID is trying 
to do, and says he doesn't have anything against Perry personally.

"He's an advocate and [postering] is part of his job. I don't have any 
problem with him doing his job," he says. "I think [SOLID] is a very 
needed, very worthwhile service. Anytime people need help, how can you 
argue with that?"

City councillor Charlayne Thornton-Joe says it's important that SOLID 
posters stay up, provided members put them in city-approved places. "I see 
it's not working well . . . if [posters] are being removed from bulletin 
boards, that's not good," she says. With regard to Saturday's protest, 
though, she would have liked Perry to find a different solution. "I thought 
it could have been handled differently," she says.

Thornton-Joe says SOLID is still new, but its members are working to keep 
the city safe--for example, members are picking up used needles and 
discarding them safely, and making sure users have access to clean rigs. 
"They can help users get to where they need to get, individually and as a 
community," she says.
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