Pubdate: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Times Colonist Contact: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481 Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v08/n311/a06.html Author: David Strand WHAT WILL BE DIFFERENT THIS TIME? Re: "Needle exchange program deserves a chance," March 23. Doesn't Marilyn Callahan mean a second chance? The needle exchange has been operating in our city for some time. Headlines during its first chance described a "Cormorant Street turning into a nightly 'war zone'" and a "daily horror." Now, AIDS Vancouver Island and the Vancouver Island Health Authority want to move the needle exchange to another neighbourhood that is fundamentally the same as Cormorant -- except that it includes an elementary school, more residents and more businesses. Callahan writes that the city and VIHA supported the proposed move, but these decisions were made behind closed doors without transparency or consultation. How can the public trust such decisions, especially when they are made in relation to a program with such a terrible track record? Programs like the needle exchange might have an effect on the spread of AIDS and hepatitis, but they also sanction an illegal activity and attract and service a population whose addictions are usually supported by crime. City council, AVI and VIHA need to face the public, who they have avoided and ignored in the past, to explain in concrete and believable terms how they plan to operate a needle exchange in a way that we can all find acceptable. David Strand, Victoria - --- MAP posted-by: Derek