Pubdate: Wed, 03 Sep 2008 Source: Victoria News (CN BC) Copyright: 2008 Victoria News Contact: http://www.vicnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1267 Author: Gregory Hartnell COUNCIL DECISION ON NEEDLE SERVICES IRRESPONSIBLE Re: Council Briefs, Aug. 20 Keith Vass informs us in this article that 'the City of Victoria won't seek to regulate location of needle exchange services through zoning amendments.' This outrageous dereliction of duty on the part of the Victoria city council follows a July letter sent by Mayor Alan Lowe encouraging the Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) to dispense hypodermic needles out of all of its facilities. This is a pathetic, stealthy betrayal by the mayor and council of the public interest, particularly that of parents of vulnerable children at the nearby Victoria Conservatory of Music, St. Andrew's elementary and preschool and Christ Church Cathedral Preschool. When parents convened an emergency meeting at the St. Andrew's gym earlier this year, they were given assurances by Victoria city Coun. Charlayne Thornton-Joe, VIHA CEO Howard Waldner, the school's principal Keifer Pollard, the Superintendent of Catholic Schools Joe Colistro (representing the Bishop of Victoria) and other worthies that their legitimate concerns for the safety of their children were heard and would be brought to the attention of the council. The overwhelming majority of parents, neighbours and other concerned citizens attending the meeting opposed the siting of a so-called 'needle exchange service' in the new Our Place facility on Pandora Avenue. Parents were horrified at the obvious failure of the needle dispensary on Cormorant Street to reduce addiction and social disorder (overt public injections and drug dealing, defecation on private property, needles, condoms and other debris left everywhere, etc.). They later presented a petition asking that city council not allow such facilities anywhere near schools, pre-schools or playgrounds. By choosing not to bring in zoning changes, the irresponsible council has completely dropped the ball, leaving innocent children vulnerable. Instead of continuing to enable poor, sick active addicts to stay mired in their deadly addictions, the City of Victoria should prohibit the siting of any such facilities near vulnerable children, as the parents requested. They should then start to offer rehab and abstinence-based residential treatment programmes in conjunction with successful self-help groups to help these addicts recover, regain their health and become productive members of society again. Gregory Hartnell, president Concerned Citizens' Coalition - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom