STOP FREE NEEDLES

Re: We need more bins for needles, April 20.

Letter writer Steven Scott might believe that stopping the handout of
free needles will not solve our needle problem. I have doubts that his
solution of creating more needle bins will help either.

I actually saw a user leave all his paraphernalia behind, including
his used needle, on Rideau Street which is lined with garbage bins
from King Edward Avenue to the Rideau Centre. I saw another street
person throw his water bottle on the street not more than five feet
from a garbage bin (I know he is a street person, because he admitted
that to me when I confronted him). If drug addicts are "too lazy" in
Mr. Scott's words to use the trash bins already lining the street,
what makes him believe that they would use needle bins?

The knowledge among the street people all over the country that Ottawa
is distributing free needles is enough of an incentive to bring them
to the city. This could be why we have an estimated 5,000 drug users
in the city, why people like Chris and Lisa Grinham are gathering
literally hundreds of used needles, and why advocates of the program
are now asking the city to increase funding to $250,000 to pick them
up (with luck, the city will get the province to cover the added cost,
because the city can no longer afford to provide even the basic
services, such as clearing snow from its streets).

If word got out that Ottawa stopped handing out free needles, it could
remove the incentive, and the impact of such an action, although not
stopping the needle abuse entirely, could effectively reduce the
problem to a more manageable level. It would be at least a step in the
right direction for a change.

One thing that should be obvious to anyone is that you're not going to
solve the problem by handing out even more needles.

Frank Calamatas,

Ottawa