BOXES WILL HELP CLEAN UP CITY

The City of Nanaimo finally chose the locations for their
much-anticipated needle drop-box program that will hopefully clean the
streets of discarded and infectious syringes typically left behind by
wandering addicts.

While public works staff spent a few weeks designing and manufacturing
the boxes, councillors collected input from anyone living or working
in the area, looking for suggestions about possible locations.

What appeared to be a simple concept has now taken nearly three months
to execute, but it's definitely not for a lack of trying on the city's
part. Any sort of harm reduction effort requires considerable
consultation to ensure the right decision is made.

Several people I spoke to yesterday told me they were concerned about
whether or not addicts would even bother using the boxes. But not a
single person adamantly opposed them either, which tells me that harm
reduction may be much more accepted in this city than I once thought.

This latest project is another aspect to the ongoing efforts to
address some of the drug addiction issues that plague the homeless
population in the city and it should be welcomed by residents and
businesses in the area because of the potential it has to clean up the
neighbourhood.

Of course the bins aren't the only solution to cleaning up the
downtown. Installing the heavy boxes is one thing, but encouraging and
convincing addicts to use them is another. And let's not forget there
are other ways to discourage drugs in certain areas altogether.

The caretaker at Purtzki and Associates Chartered Accountants cleaned
up needles every morning because drug users would spend nights getting
high on the stairwell, which stretches up the hill between Nicol
Street and Robarts Street. The traffic and leftover needles have been
minimal, however, since owners installed locked gates and metal
fences, according to office administrator Barbara Winter.

Winter supports the drop-box program, but had some doubts about its
effectiveness.

"Will people take the time to put the needles in the boxes?" she asked
city social planner John Horn when he visited the office to tell her
about the four proposed sites.

But then she made an even more important statement when she recognized
that even if "one or two" syringes end up in the bins, the project
could be a success.

Horn agreed.

"A few needles in these boxes are a few less on the streets where they
could poke someone in the foot or the hand," he said.

The Nanaimo Association for Community Living made similar efforts to
reduce drug traffic out front of their Cavan Street office by
installing gates, but a more proactive effort has been the Clean Sweep
program.

With the proper public awareness, these proposed boxes will make life
easier for anyone in the area. Some people may fear that these
35-kilogram metal bins will send the wrong message to tourists, but I
believe the opposite. The blue boxes may very well symbolize the open
drug-use explosion within the downtown core in recent years, but they
also represent our city's proactive approach to keep its citizens safe.

Drug addiction and drug use is not going away. Realistically, it's
only going to get worse as our city grows. We can't pretend it's not a
problem and we certainly can't hide it. But we can install mechanisms
to protect everyone from contracting diseases.

Needle Exchange Nanaimo Street Outreach hands out nearly 7,000 needles
every month and has close to a 100% recovery rate, but obviously
addicts are getting needles from other sources as well.

Evidence on our streets every morning should be an indication that not
every used needle is getting returned. I can't think of a more
inexpensive way to see if we can get users to clean up after
themselves.