NEEDLE BOX PLAN GETS SUPPORT

Nanaimo's social planner consults with downtown residents on proposed
plan

City social planner John Horn walked the downtown streets Tuesday
talking to business owners and service group managers about the
proposed locations for four needle drop boxes designed to give drug
addicts a place to discard their used syringes.

From restaurants to lawyers' offices, Horn shook the hands of nearly
10 people and received overwhelming support for the metal bins
designed and manufactured by the city's public works department.

City councillors and staff have spent weeks identifying possible
locations and are now confident they have selected four effective
sites along Albert Street, Cavan Street, Milton Street and Terminal
Avenue.

The downtown core has long been a scattering ground for the discarded
and often infectious syringes. Residents in the area encouraged
councillors to get the boxes onto the street as soon as possible.

Business owners also supported the project, even though some were
slightly "disheartened" that their shops are located within an area
that needed such a service, according to Horn. While on his walk, he
explained to everyone that the boxes will be cleaned out once a week
by fire department staff, unless the frequency needs to be increased
or decreased.

Outreach workers from several needle-exchange programs hand out new
syringes to addicts every week and while staff say recovery rates are
high, neighbours still complain about finding needles along city streets.

"For some, it's a little disheartening that they're in an area where
we need (the boxes), but as long as we have (the problem), they see
that it's good to have them," Horn said. "We've chosen sites where
users have a tendency to walk past and there's a fair amount of foot
traffic. The intent is to have less needles lying around the city."

Needle exchanges in Nanaimo hand out approximately 7,000 needles in a
month and though they boast a near perfect recovery rate, addicts
still toss needles to the ground when they are done. Horn hopes the
boxes will change that.

He stopped into Nanaimo Association for Community Living just after
noon Tuesday to talk to Graham Morry. The executive director talks
about the metal gates his organization has had to install to reduce
the number of addicts that use the front alcove while shooting up at
night. Morry and his crew have had a "hell of a time" with unwanted
activity outside their door since opening at that location nearly two
years ago.

Volunteers at NACL walk the streets once a week, picking up used
syringes. Morry hopes the bins will reduce the number of needles on
the streets.

Horn then visited Mike Atherton, president of the Firehouse Grill.
From behind the bar, he said he would "rather have the boxes," if the
drug activity continues. Across Nicol Street, Barbara Winter used to
see discarded needles every morning when she showed up to work at
Purtzki and Associates Chartered Accountants.

The office administrator has seen far less activity since the company
installed locked gates, encasing the outdoor stairwell where addicts
would congregate to get high at night.

From a blue folder, Horn pulled out a map of the downtown pointing to
the site proposed for Cavan Street, just half a block away.

"We have a needle exchange just up the street and staff there do a
great job retrieving used syringes, but as far as I know, they're not
open seven days a week, so we thought we'd give these drop boxes a
try," Horn said.

Winter expressed concern about the message the boxes would send to
tourists, who may feel they are in the wrong part of town. Citing
examples from Victoria and other cities in Alberta that use a similar
model, Horn confirmed that this issue has never been a known problem.

"Yes, we'd support something like that," Winter said before the social
planner moved onto his next location.

The city originally proposed three sites, but recently added a fourth.
Compared to Victoria's five bins, Nanaimo should have enough bins to
meet the demand, according to Horn.