NEEDLE EXCHANGE HEADS TO PANDORA

Neighbours Wary Of VIHA's Project

The Vancouver Island Health Authority plans to relocate the city's
controversial needle exchange to a building on Pandora Avenue, next
to the newly constructed Our Place homeless drop-in centre.

The authority expects to buy a 12,000-square-foot building at 941
Pandora Ave. from St. John Ambulance for about $2 million to house
the needle exchange, as well as doctors, nurses, mental health
workers and -- most importantly for its new neighbours -- a community
police office.

"I'm optimistic. The discussions are fairly advanced," VIHA president
Howard Waldner said yesterday. "We have a real opportunity to make a
difference here." The needle exchange, which is funded by VIHA and
run by AIDS Vancouver Island, has been evicted from its Cormorant
Street location and must be out by the summer. The facility currently
serves 1,500 intravenous drug users and has become notorious for the
trail of dirty syringes, blood and human waste left on the street.
People are often seen shooting up outside the facility.

Cormorant Street businesses have been extremely vocal about the
problem -- and the facility's new neighbours are wary.

"We are just digesting it," said Derek Allan, owner of the Fotoprint
copying store at 945 Pandora Ave., who was given the news in person
by Waldner and Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe. "The one positive which we
are holding on to -- with our fingernails for dear life -- is that
there will be a community policing centre there as well." According
to Waldner, the city has put $100,000 toward the purchase of the new
building and offered to locate a "community police office" there to
keep public order. He said that clients will be expected to use the
facility to drop off and pick up needles only. There will be no loitering.

Plans call for the new facility to be better integrated with other
social services, and will house up to about 30 people including
doctors, nurses, support staff, mental health care workers and street
outreach workers. VIHA also hopes to create satellite needle exchange
locations throughout the city to decentralize the operation.

St. John Ambulance plans to temporarily operate out of the Gorge Road
Hospital until it finds a new home.