PUTTING NEEDLE EXCHANGE NEAR SCHOOLS IS JUST WRONG

I read with great dismay the article about moving the needle exchange
to Pandora Avenue. Regardless of the issue of whether we should have
such a program, the decision to place it adjacent to two schools, St.
Andrew's Elementary and the Victoria Conservatory of Music, is wrong.

Both schools and local businesses are already under siege from street
people. St. Andrew's has walled itself in with a three-metre fence.
The Victoria Conservatory of Music has closed its Pandora entrance
with an iron fence and officially moved its address to 900 Johnson
St.

Your paper stated that the present needle exchange site "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."

Is this the environment we want to educate our children
in?

Stephen Brown

Victoria