NEEDLE EXCHANGE NEEDS A HOME

Needle exchanges work. They protect the lives of intravenous drug
users. They reduce health-care costs. They help drug users connect
with needed services. They cut the number of discarded needles. And
they do not increase drug use.

Those are not claims. They are facts, based on extensive research
since the first Canadian needle exchange opened in Toronto 21 years ago.

We understand that the idea of providing needles makes some people
uncomfortable. But a decision this important -- one that is literally
life and death -- has to be based on facts, not our desire to avoid discomfort.

Yet in barely two weeks, the region's only needle exchange will close
its doors. AIDS Vancouver Island is scrambling to try to replace the
exchange with a mobile service. That's an unsatisfactory substitute.

Mobile exchanges are much less likely to be used, particularly by
those most at risk from shared needles. The chaotic lives of many
drug users make it unlikely they will connect with a roaming van.
That means more disease transmission and more discarded needles on
the streets. (The current exchange takes in more needles than it distributes.)

Mobile exchanges also are far less effective in guiding drug users to
the services that can help them and reduce health-care costs and
street disorder. A fixed exchange provides a chance to connect with
drug users and steer them to nurses or counsellors or information on
managing their drug use to reduce the damage done. It can be the
first step toward treatment or a more stable life.

It will be a huge step backward in terms of public health and safety
if, after almost two decades, the region loses such an important service.

We understand the apprehension of those living in the area of a
proposed new location on Pandora Avenue. The Vancouver Island Health
Authority has purchased a building for the exchange and other health
services, but halted relocation plans in the face of fierce
opposition. Critics cited particularly concern about the effect on
St. Andrew's Elementary School in the next block.

Their fears are, unfortunately, justified. A number of factors,
mainly underfunding, led to major problems for neighbours of the
current needle exchange on Cormorant Street. Those problems have now
been greatly reduced thanks to increased staffing and police
enforcement, but the damage has been done.

But there is good reason to accept assurances the problems will not
be repeated at the new location. The former St. John Ambulance
building is large enough to ensure people don't congregate outside;
it will house a range of additional support services; and police have
promised officers will be attached to the facility and will be
patrolling in the area.

Needle exchanges operate in almost two dozen communities across
Canada, large and small, with minimal disruption to neighbourhoods.
That should suggest that the problems on Cormorant Street are a
reflection of mistakes made here, not of the risk of needle exchanges
themselves.

The plan to relocate a needle exchange to Pandora Avenue should go
ahead. The city and VIHA should commit, in writing, to the actions
that will be taken to ensure neighbours are not affected. And the
exchange should operate on a one-year trial basis, with specific
benchmarks to be met before it is made permanent.

The needle exchange is a critical health service, with benefits for
all members of the community. Its closure would bring increased
suffering, illness, street disorder and rising health costs. The
relocation should go ahead.