Pubdate: Wed, 27 May 2009
Source: Victoria News (CN BC)
Copyright: 2009 Black Press
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/wOQxPi2c
Website: http://www.vicnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1267
Author: Rebecca Aldous
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?137 (Needle Exchange)

MARCH SUPPORTS FIXED-NEEDLE EXCHANGE

It's been a year and nothing is happening, says the organizer of March
for Dignity.

On Sunday (May 31), advocates of a fixed-site needle exchange will be
taking to Victoria streets to commemorate the one-year anniversary of
the closing of the city's only fixed-site needle exchange. "It's been
an entire year gone by without any movement at all," said march
organizer Kim Toombs. "It is very, very frustrating."

The city's needle exchange on Cormorant Street was closed after
neighbours complained about drug use on adjacent streets.

The Vancouver Island Health Authority then looked at the St. John
Ambulance building at 941 Pandora Ave., but plans were axed when
parents with children attending nearby St. Andrew's elementary school
came out against the proposal.

AIDS Vancouver Island, contracted by VIHA, operates a mobile needle
exchange service, but the teams are not allowed to collect and
distribute drug use equipment in an area that spans from west-to-east
from Blanshard to Chambers streets and north-to-south from Balmoral to
Yates streets.

Not only is the "no-service zone" put in place by VIHA unacceptable,
but the health authority has been leaning on public consultation to
stall the start up of a new fixed-site needle exchange, said Toombs,
who is also a spokesperson of Harm Reduction Victoria.

VIHA has made progress with the formation of its needle exchange
advisory committee, said Shannon Turner, VIHA's director of public
health.

The committee, composed of community stakeholders including the police
and neighbourhood associations, is not debating the need for a
fixed-needle exchange site, but coming up with a way to make sure the
next site is supported and highly successful, she said.

The committee has two sub-committees - one to go through proposed
sites with a checklist and the other to implement educational public
workshops throughout Victoria. VIHA's main challenge is finding a site
suitable for a fixed-needle exchange, Turner said.

The march takes place on Sunday, starting at Vancouver and Pandora
streets intersection. The procession gets underway at noon. For more
information on Harm Reduction Victoria, please visit online
www.harmreductionvictoria.ca . 
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake